Operation: MIND
by Obscuris
Summary: A mysterious woman with strange powers is hired to terrorize the Kids Next Door. Little do her employers know that she has agendas of her own...
1. Default Chapter

Now loading: Kids Next Door mission...

Operation: M.I.N.D., Chapter One  
  
**M**indful  
**I**nsight  
**N**efariously  
**D**eceitful

Writing Operative: Vtbots  
  
Completion Date: Jan. 25, 2003 - April 8, 2003  
  
Disclaimer: Codename: Kids Next Door is owned not by me but by Mr. Warburton and Cartoon Network. So don't sue me!

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"CURSES!!" roar the Delightful Children From Down The Lane, the archnemesises of our heroes the Kids Next Door. They have returned from yet another failure in stopping their enemies' adult-fighting goal. Growling, snarling, and doing all other things indicating anger and frustration, they storm through the hallways of their mansion to their office, illuminated brightly by the afternoon sunlight. But they are not in the mood to admire this beautiful day.

Losing to the Kids Next Door, though, has happened so often that the DCFDTL should be sucking it up and moving on, and they have. But this loss was different. So different that it nearly drove the DCFDTL off the deep end...

When Numbuh Two successfully shorted out their latest robot during the battle, their weapon, of course, failed and exploded, sending the DC flying into the air and landing hard on the ground on their faces, their bodies charred in a cartoonish way, parts of their expensive clothing torn, and their hair disgraced... Well, except for the football helmet-headed Delightful Child's, but unfortunately his helmet... his FAVORITE helmet cracked beyond repair.

The Kids Next Door cheered victoriously. But that is not what upset the Delightful Children From Down The Lane. When the KND got a good look at them... they snickered. Numbuh Four commented something to the effect of "Oy, they sure got _burned_. But I guess that's expected when we _fry_ 'em every freakin' time! What a _burn-out_!" And then the Kids Next Door did something that _did_ terribly upset their foes...

They laughed... loud and hard-- even Numbuh One. Now possibly whenever the KND go back to their headquarters they share a few jokes-- that's what the DCFDTL would expect. But they pointed and laughed right there... in their PRESENCE! Numbuh Five threw in some taunts as the humiliated, embarrassed, and totally cheesed-off Delightful Children got up and left, leaving their giggling enemies behind.

And so, here they are, in their office, gritting their teeth in terrible rage as their faces become redder than during that miserable moment. If only... if only...

"Thinking evil thoughts, aren't we?"

The Delightful Children nearly rocket to the roof at the sound of an unexpected visitor in the room. They whirl around and demand, "Who are you!? What are you doing here!?"

"My, aren't _we_ cranky today?" snickers the stranger as it emerges from the shadows from a corner of the office. It is a rather attractive young red-headed woman wearing a black-and-red dress and black shoes. She looks ordinary enough, but her piercing black eyes might possibly suggest otherwise.

"Who are you?" the children demand again, this time calmer.

"Just call me Manasa. I am here to solve your troubles." She bows respectfully as the Delightful Children take a seat in their large chair at their desk. They look at her with little interest.

"We are in no mood to hire villians today," they say in their creepy simultaneous way.

"Ah, but you _will_ be in the mood once you see just how I can crush the Kids Next Door. For you see, I have a 'gift.' The gift to dive into one's mind! I can invade their mind and talk to them, manipulate them, attack them... or a combination of the three."

The Delightful Children shake their heads, almost laughing in incredulity. "Do you expect us to believe that? People only have that power on television. And people in real life pretending to have mind powers do so just for show. You have to try better than that to earn our money..."

"This is not about money," Manasa says, "this is about something else altogether. But I won't get into that. So, you do not believe me. Well, allow me to prove it to you."

The strange woman stands directly in front of the Delightful Children's desk and closes her eyes in deep concentration. She extends her hand toward the children, who continue to just sit there thinking this is all a big joke, the cherry-on-top of their 'just desserts' they received today. She opens her eyes slightly and smirks down at them.

"Hmmmm," she says in a low, cryptic voice. "You have tried to destroy the Kids Next Door with an ice cream monster."

"Bah, those foolish ice cream men could have blabbed that incident to anyone," the children yawn boredly.

"Hmmmm. Ahhhh, yessss. The girl named Abigail Lincoln invaded your home and left behind her cap. You replaced it with one filled with monster lice. Then the next day, your lice was used against you."

"... A-Anybody could have guessed that." The Delightful Children begin to shudder nervously.

"Let's see if you call _this_ a guess. You nearly defeated the Kids Next Door recently. With an age-changing device. And then the Kids Next Door fought your 'Father.' It was very intense but your foes won the battle in the end."

This causes the Delightful Children to tremble even more. This has to be a joke... a scam... or something....

But the woman continues despite their agitation. Letting her hand fall back to her side she smiles as if sympathetically as she tells them her next reading: "You have suffered a very major loss in your most recent battle. Your latest creation was destroyed by Hoagie P. Gilligan, Jr. The Kids Next Door laughed at you as you left. You felt humilated... embarrassed... and totally cheesed-off."

Even before she finishes the Delightful Children quake in their chair, wide, frightened eyes staring into the woman. There is no possible way this lady could have known something that happened just half an hour ago, unless she was there at the time. But they were inside a pretty tall machine-- they should have been able to seen her if she were in the area.

The Delightful Children From Down The Lane shake their heads, still trembling. A person able to penetrate deep into a person's mind seems rather scary. Terrifying, even. So terrifying that it could cause one to shiver down their spine like they are doing now. Why, it could break one's will; one's spirit; one's life.  
  
... It's the perfect revenge against that rag-tag group of brats known as the Kids Next Door.

"You're hired!" the Delightful Children shout happily... well, as happily as their emotionless voices can express.

"Very good," says Manasa, a small smile growing on her face. "You just sit back and have some rest. I'll do the work for now. I am confident that you _won't_ be disappointed."

Her smile twists into a strange smirk as she watches her "employers" share a round of evil, annoying laughter.

Meanwhile at the Kids Next Door Treehouse Headquarters, the atmosphere is the exact opposite of the DCFDTL's. No groaning or gritting teeth over a horrible moment. Instead, there's celebration! Yes, the KND celebrate yet another victory over their arch-enemies the Delightful Children From Down The Lane. They talk, they joke, they order pizza, they play games...

Okay, so they talk, joke, and play games everyday and they order or even bake pizza on most weekends. But on the Enjoyment Scale of 1-10, it is now 12. So naturally they pretty much have the time of their very young lives.

Eventually, all the partying zaps the energy out of the Kids and, after cleaning up, they retire to their respective rooms for the night. An exhausted Numbuh One yawns as he sets his sunglasses on the nightstand, changes into his pajamas, and hops into bed, pulling the warm covers over him. Thinking about the day's events, he snickers as he remembers the silly looks on the Delightful Children's faces after being shocked and burned. He almost feels sorry for them. Almost.

{"My, you certainly had a good time, yes?"}

Numbuh One launches up from his bed, startled. "W-Who's that?" he says in a low voice, scanning around. But nobody is here. He begins to shudder but frowns slightly. "Are you guys pulling a prank on me?"

{"I assure you that I am not any of your little friends. They are all asleep at the moment. I am merely speaking to you in your mind."}

Fully awake and hearing the voice more clearly, he is convinced that it cannot be any of his comrades. "Who are you?" he asks again. "_Where_ are you? And why are you speaking to me in my head?"

{"Who and where I am is not important right now. You and the rest of the Kids Next Door have defeated the Delightful Children From Down The Lane today, am I right, Nigel Uno?"}

"Yes, we have... How did you know that? How do you know my name?"

{"That is not what you should concern yourself with, Mr. Uno. The Delightful Children were mighty upset when they left the battlefield. I doubt they are too happy at the moment. In fact, they could be planning some form of plot right now and may retaliate against you and the others. Anytime. Anywhere. ... listening?"}

Numbuh One blinks a few times, saying, "Those geeks are plotting revenge on us? How do you know this?"

{"Does that even matter? What you should focus on is getting the drop on them... before _you_ get dropped."}

The fearless leader rubs under his chin, contemplating on the strange information he's receiving from some unknown stranger that is somehow able to chat with him via mind. He doesn't quite trust this person... But then again, if the Delightful Children _are_ planning an attack, it would be best to take this seriously. After all, he wouldn't want him and his teammates to be ambushed by their worst enemies... especially when he'd _know_ about it beforehand.

So, with a sigh, he silently decides to go along with this. "Where and when should the Kids Next Door expect the Delightfuls to try to get the drop on us?" he asks.

{"I recommend you try the outskirts of town, not too far from their mansion. They're planning to infiltrate your headquarters using their underground robot monster. Tomorrow would probably be the best time. Oh, and one more thing. I'd watch my back if I were you. I doubt your so-called 'friends' are so trustworthy..."}

Numbuh One's eyes shoot wide open at her last sentence. "Huh!?" he practically shouts in a mixture of surprise and disbelief. "What are you saying? Is there a traitor within the Kids Next Door?"

The voice pauses. Then finally answers, {"That is all I can tell you for now, Mr. Uno. I must go..."}

"No, wait, come back!"

But there is no reply. After a rather unnerving pause, he lies back on his bed. With uneasy eyes staring at the ceiling, he thinks, 'Now how does she know that there is a ratfink with us? Hey! How did she get to talk to me in my mind!? She never answered that!'

He pulls the covers back over him and closes his eyes once more. But it's going to be tough sleeping tonight...

Meanwhile, the source of the voice floats in mid-air some distance away from the headquarters. Satisfied with her deed, Manasa floats away from the Treehouse with a grin. She produces a communicator from her pocket and, turning it on, she speaks into it: "Manasa here. Phase One is complete."

"Excellent," drone five voices from the com. "We shall begin Phase Two tomorrow when they arrive. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha."

The next morning, the Kids Next Door are called into an 'emergency meeting.' The four other half-asleep Kids mutter among themselves, wondering why their leader is forcing them up so early. Still yawning, the four flop on the circular-shaped couch of the main room. A few minutes later, Numbuh One emerges from his room and steps behind his podium. The others immediately quiet down when they witness the deep frown on his face. Even with his sunglasses on, they can tell that his eyes say that he is in a no-nonsense mood. Something's wrong, they just know it.

"Alright, team!" Numbuh One says seriously, slamming a fist into the palm of his hand. "I am sure you're all wondering as to why I have called you all to this meeting so early in the morning."

"Considerin' it's seven freakin' A.M. on a Saturday morning, the simple answer would be yes," says a slightly miffed Numbuh Five, being woken up from quite a peaceful slumber.

"Good, then I have all of your attention. Guys... we have a traitor in our midst!"

"WHAT!?" shout the others in unison before they begin rambling among themselves, saying things like "It isn't me!", "It must be YOU!", "ME!? I would never--!", etc., etc.

"Settle down, people!" orders Numbuh One in his strong British accent, bashing his fist on his podium multiple times.

"... what makes ya think that there's a bloomin' rat here, mate?" asks Numbuh Four after everyone quiets down.

"I've heard a voice in my head!"

Numbuh Five lifts her cap visor and blinks. "A voice in your head. Right. An' Numbuh Five will suppose that next your Supersockem Girl doll will tell you that that lame-o Blarney the Orange Dinosaur is gonna rise up an' conquer the world with his 'I Love Ya' songs and afterschool special trash."

"NO! It's true," says Numbuh One quickly before Numbuh Three can open her mouth to say 'But Blarney isn't real!'. "I've heard a voice telling me that those Delightful kids are going to get us somewhere outside of town soon, and one of us will turn traitor! And it's not a doll, it's an _action figure_!"

"Surrrrrre, that's what they _all_ say."

"But we'd never turn traitor!" protests Numbuh Two. "All of us are friends here, right?"

"Right!" agree Numbuhs Three, Four, and Five.

{"Bah, one or more of them must be in denial..."}, says the voice inside Numbuh One's mind.

Realizing who it is, he rubs the side of his bald head, whispering, "Maybe so, but I don't really think--"

"Who you talkin' to?" interrupts Numbuh Five, cocking an eyebrow from under her red cap.

"Maybe he has an imaginary friend..." snickers Numbuh Four, with Numbuh Two joining in.

"I do _not_! It's that voice-person; she's talking to me right now!"

"Man!" the dark-skinned girl shakes her head. "So it's a she now? Heh heh heh, I don't think Lizzie will like that."

"Are you sure you're feeling okay, Numbuh One?" a concerned Numbuh Three asks as she gets up and walks over to the accented boy to feel his forehead. "You're not sick or anything, are you?"

"I'm fine, Numbuh Three," he replies softly, gently putting his friend's hand down. "I'm only looking for the ratfink in our team."

"Tch, fine, fine..." grumbles Numbuh Four. "Let's pretend that what yer sayin' IS true. Where are the Miserable Children From Who Knows Where suppos'ta strike again?"

"At a street some distance away from the Delighful Children's home."

"All right, then let's go toast 'em!"

"Yea'. But first, Numbuh Five is hun-ger-REE, an' wants some breakfast!" Numbuh Five announces, abruptly halting Numbuhs Two, Three, and Four from dashing out the door causing them to trip and fall on each other. They collectively groan.

"Breakfast, huh? Then we'll come with you for breakfast too!" says Numbuh One, lifting up his sunglasses slightly.

"But I already had breakfast!" Numbuh Three tells him, wiping the last pieces of a strawberry pop-tart from her lips.

"I still say we're joining on Numbuh Five's breakfast and have a great time together. Aren't we?"

Numbuhs 2-4 shrug defeatedly and join Numbuh Five at the dining room table, fixing themselves some bowls of cereal... The sugary-sweet, non-nutritious kind, of course.

Numbuh One follows them afterwards. He hopes that what the voice tells him is false, but he certainly cannot risk leaving even one of the Kids Next Door members alone, especially since one of them could be a traitor. He has to keep an eye on each of them at all times, at least until he finds out just what is going on.

Manasa, at a distance, smirks with pride. Already the Kids Next Door are bickering with each other, and trust has certainly become an issue. Seeing that they are having breakfast at the moment, she decides to patiently wait for them to finish and come out so that Phase Two will begin. Then suddenly, she gets an idea. An idea that could prove quite entertaining...

Numbuh Three's previous worriness quickly fades away as the taste of sweet cereal enters her mouth, and her happy-go-lucky disposition returns. She almost forgets about all this traitor business when...

"Hey! Kuki Sanban!"

Numbuh Three stops and quickly looks around. Only her friends are here, but it sure doesn't sound like any of their voices. What's even more unusual is that not only is she being called by her real name instead of her KND codename, but the others do not seem to hear it as well. Assuming that it is just her imagination, Numbuh Three shrugs it off and dives her spoon into the sea of fresh, white liquid with pieces of cereal as the drowning victims. But the spoon full of 'rescued victims' soon to enter the hatch of no return only stops halfway when the voice is heard again:

"Kuki!" it calls. "Down here!"

Looking down, Numbuh Three slightly gasps when she discovers the teddy wrapped around her side--which she couldn't get a chance to put away when Numbuh One woke her up--is staring straight at her, instead of being in its usual blank, happy stare!

"T-Teddy?" she whispers, her voice slightly trembling.

"Yep, that's right!" Numbuh Three nearly leaps with more joy than fright when the teddy bear's mouth moves as it speaks.

The teddy bear's expression turns serious. "You don't _really_ believe Number One, do you, dear?"

"Uh, what do you mean? How are you talking?"

Numbuh Four, who is sitting right across from her, lifts up his eyes for a minute, and can swear he heard her say something. Thinking she must be in one of her 'silly' moods, he shrugs it off and immediately goes back to his breakfast, munching on it rather animalistically.

"That is not important right now, Kuki. I'm sending you a little warning."

"A warning?"

"Yes. Isn't it strange what Number One said? About how the Delightful Children already have their newest weapon at their disposal and ready to attack when their most recent one was destroyed yesterday? I think they would be too upset to build a new machine overnight."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that perhaps the Delightful Children may... or may not have some weapon prepared to strike against you and your teammates. Have you noticed the way Number One looks at you?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" asks Numbuh Three innocently.

"Well, my dear, you know what it means when a boy stares at a particular girl a lot, don't you? Certainly you of all the Kids Next Door ought to know that."

Unsure, the little Japanese girl turns her head towards Numbuh One's direction. Indeed, he is staring at her. Realizing he's caught, he quickly goes back to eating, acting innocent. Gasping lightly, she quickly turns back to her teddy bear. "D-Does Numbuh One have a crush on me?"

The stuffed animal smiles. "Perhaps. And perhaps there is a reason why he mentioned of a possible Delightful Children attack. I figure maybe when you all arrive there he'll grab you away unnoticed by the others at first, making it seem like you two were ambushed and captured by the enemy.

"Now why would he do somethin' like that?"

"Why?" It pauses. "Well... let's just say he may want to 'Play Doctor' with you. Catch my drift? Hee hee hee ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

'Play Doctor? What's the matter with that?' Numbuh Three asks herself. She plays Doctor with her dolls and stuffed animals all the time. What could this talking teddy be-- Wait. Sometimes when she plays that game with her dolls and they need some form of 'check-up,' she has to....

At a sudden realization of what her teddy bear could be talking about, her eyes widen first in surprise... then disgust.

"EWIE EWIE EWIE!" she yells, bringing everyone's attention to her.

"Huh? What is the matter, Numbuh Three?" Numbuh One asks, confused from the sudden outburst.

Whirling to him, Numbuh Three points accusingly at the leader with a grossed-out frown. "You're icky, Numbuh One! And ewie, too!" she declares as she storms away from the table.

Manasa laughs out loud at Numbuh Three's reaction and Numbuh One's weirded-out expression. Sometimes having mind powers can be so much fun!

"What the heck was up with that?" wonders a bewildered Numbuh One.

"I dunno... But I guess she doesn't want the rest of that anymore," says Numbuh Two as he snatches the abandoned bowl of cereal.

"Didja do somethin' to her today?" Numbuh Four asks the leader.

"NO! I didn't do a thing to her!"

The Aussie boy shrugs. "Just askin'."

Slightly worried by her friend's behavior, Numbuh Five leaves the dining room table and follows Numbuh Three, who has her arms crossed, to the main room.

"Hey girl, wassup wit' you?" Numbuh Five inquires. But her friend refuses to answer.

Meanwhile back at the dining room, the voice of Manasa re-enters Numbuh One's head. {"Hmmm. Strange way she is acting. Oh well. I think you've stuffed yourself up enough. You better get to your next mission and defeat the Delightful Children as always."}

"Yes! I think we should!" he answers her before looking to Numbuh Two and Numbuh Four. "Come on, guys! Let's go look for those Delightful suckers!"

"Awright, it's action time!" shouts Numbuh Four excitedly as he rolls up his sleeves.

Hearing Numbuh One's call for action, Numbuh Five looks at him then back at Numbuh Three with concern, but she takes her hand anyway, rushing her to the port. "We better get going..."

"Okay, but I'm staying away from that yucky Numbuh One," grumbles Numbuh Three, leaving the other girl to wonder what the heck she's talking about.

The Kids dash to the port to the M.O.S.Q.U.I.T.T.O.H. (Massively Oversized Super Quick Undercover Icy Treat Transport On Helio-jets; first seen on the episode I.-S.C.R.E.A.M.) that serves as one of their modes of aerial transportation. Strapping on their seatbelts, Numbuh Two ignites the engine and immediately they're off to the supposed Delightful Children attack site. On their way there, each Kid wonder to themselves:

Numbuh Five: 'What's up with Numbuh Three? And just where exactly _did_ Numbuh One get that stuff about the Delightful nerds ambushing us? Numbuh Five is suspicious...'

Numbuh Four: 'I have no cruddy idea what's going on, but I'll be glad to kick some butt again!'

Numbuh Three: 'OOOoooo, that Numbuh One!'

Numbuh Two: 'I hope there _isn't_ a traitor here. That would mean we can't be friends with him or her anymore. (GASP!) What if _I'm_ the traitor!? ... Nah, I can't be the rat. Heh heh, silly me.'

Numbuh One: 'I don't know if what this mysterious voice is telling me is true. But if there _is_ a traitor among us, he or she will surely pay.'

Watching the Kids Next Door at a distance, Manasa produces the communicator again and says, "They're coming."

"Good! Phase Two will begin at last!" The Delightful Children From Down The Lane are heard laughing monotonously from the device. Hanging up, the mind-empowered woman smirks a little as she eyes the Kids blast to their destination. It won't be long before Phase Two is unleashed...

She can practically taste all the fun ahead.

TO BE CONTINUED...


	2. Chapter Two

Now reloading: Kids Next Door mission...

Operation: M.I.N.D., Chapter Two

Writing Operative: Vtbots

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"We're heeeerrrrrrre!" cheers Numbuh Two as he switches the M.O.S.Q.U.I.T.T.O.H. to land to where Numbuh One's 'voice in the head' told them to go to: The outskirts of town not too far from the Delightful Children's mansion.

"Very good. Everyone, arm your weapons and keep an eye out for them. They could be waiting somewhere and jump us when we least expect it," commands the accented leader. His comrades do as told and ready their little arsenal created by their "2x4 Technology," but as they do so Numbuh One glances at each of them suspiciously. As much as he wishes to not believe that there is a traitor, he has no choice but to keep an eye of his own out for his teammates. His blood boils at the thought of someone pretending to be a friend and then later backstabbing the others like the dirty rat he or she is. The moment he discovers the betrayer, they're gonna cry to their mommy!

When Numbuh One's eyes lay on Numbuh Three, she suddenly frowns and quickly turns away from him. He hears her say something like "Yucky, icky boy!", which leaves him curious as to why she keeps calling him that. He hasn't done anything to her today. Hmmmmmmmm.

"Numbuh One, you comin'?" Numbuh Five snaps him out of his thoughts. Everyone except her has already gone.

"Huh? Oh yes, sorry." The KND leader nods, arms his S.C.A.M.P.P. weapon (Soup Can And Magnified Photon Phlazer; first seen in the episode N.O.-P.O.W.U.H.), and follows his 'friends' out of the vehicle.

* * * * *

"They're here."

"Good. Now we shall launch Phase Two!"

* * * * *

All is quiet in the outskirts of town. Not a creature is stirring... and no fitting word here rhymes with town. Five little youngsters train their weapons in various directions, for the Delightful Child could spring up at any moment. But as long minutes pass by, everyone except Numbuh One begin to have their doubts and lower their weapons.

"I knew it, you were hearin' things, Numbuh One!" Numbuh Five says.

"I was not!" he shouts indignantly. "I promise you I heard a voice telling me that the Delightful Children are preparing some type of weapon at this spot!"

"Maybe you should ignore that imaginary friend of yers," smirks Numbuh Four in his strong Aussie accent.

"Or your Supersockem Girl dolls," Numbuh Five adds with a smirk of her own.

"ACTION FIGURES! And I'm positive that this 'friend' of mine is real. She just wouldn't... uh... show up or something."

"Uh-huh," all four of the others stare at him. Numbuh One sighs and whirls around, slapping his free hand over his bald-headed face. Maybe they're right. Maybe he was just imagining things back at Kids Next Door Headquarters. But... it all seemed so...

CRASH!! A large, silverish machine with tentacle-like arms bursts from under the ground, towering the poor Kids like ants! In the cockpit sit their sworn enemies. Numbuh One holds back a snicker, imagining the surprised looks on his comrades' faces.

"Why, hello Kids Next Door!" greets the zoned-out Delightful Children.

"Hiiiii!" squeals Numbuh Three, cheerfully waving at them.

"We have absolutely... _nooooo_ idea how you figured out the location of our new Groundbot. It seems almost as if you _knew_ about our surprise attack we were going to unleash upon you. But that does not matter. Instead of wasting time and energy digging our way through your headquarters, we can defeat you all here and now. We ought to thank you. Ha ha ha ha ha haaaa!"

They don't even complete their emotionless laughter before they raise one of the mechanical tentacles and slam it violently on the ground, but luckily the Kids jump out of the way before they could become Kids Next Door: Pancake Special.

"Kids Next Door, our weapons are of no use against a machine that huge!" yells Numbuh One. "Our only chance is inside the M.O.S.Q.U.I.T.T.O.H.!"

So the KND run like crazy back inside their large vehicle as the Groundbot unleashes its tentacle and laser attacks like a bull seeing red. It is not until the gang make it inside their own little mech when Numbuh Five tries another go at getting her girl friend to open her mouth. This may not be the right time, but still... it could be serious.

"Now you mind tellin' me what's goin' on between you an' Numbuh One?" she asks her.

"That Numbuh One... He's trying to do something to me."

"Do what?"

"... uh, we should really be worrying about those other kids right now." And with that she jumps into her seat without another word.

Numbuh Three... focusing on a battle? 'Now Numbuh Five is _really_ suspicious...' the dark girl comments in her mind. 'Maybe Numbuh Three... is finally behaving like an adult-fighter should?'

The dark girl smiles at the thought... until the green sweater girl suddenly shrieks cheerfully and presses buttons at random.

"Numbuh Two, ready the ice cream cone cannon!" Numbuh One orders.

"Readying the ice cream cone cannon!"

* * * * *

"Oh no, not _that_!" groan the Delightful Children as they watch the cannon taking direct aim at them.

"Don't worry," says Manasa from behind them. "I'll take care of things. Just keep watching." And with that, she hovers out of the Groundbot and floats over the Kids Next Door's M.O.S.Q.U.I.T.T.O.H., smiling a rather crafty smile.

* * * * *

"We can fire whenever we're ready, Numbuh One!" says Numbuh Two, not taking his eyes away from the lock-on screen in front of him.

"Wait for my command. We have to have the perfect aim." He glances around at each member while maintaining his leaderly facial. Everyone seems to be behaving normally (that includes Numbuh Three playing around); no one is deliberately missing the round of shots they're firing at their foes, and he can't see anyone talking on some sort of communicator to somebody. Maybe he IS just imagining things.

{"No, you're _not_ imagining things, Nigel Uno."}

Numbuh One nearly leaps out of his commander chair-- he sure didn't expect this mystery voice to be talking to him _now_. Looking around to make sure nobody is watching him, he whispers but not so loud that the others would hear.

"What do you want now? We're in the middle of a battle here."

{"Have you checked on Number Three lately?"}

"Well, yes... She's been acting rather strangely, calling me names and walking away from me for no apparent reason."

{"Yes, that is rather strange. You want to know what I think? I think that when you announced of a possible traitor... she panicked."}

  
Numbuh One cocks a curious eyebrow. "Panicked?"

{"Right, panicked. She never acted that way toward you until this morning during breakfast, right after you gave your little speech about a traitor. Am I right?"}

"... What are you trying to say?" asks the Kids Next Door commander, although he has an unsettling feeling what this mystery voice _could_ be trying to say.

{"I'm saying that maybe... just _maybe_... SHE'S the traitor!"}

"No way..." Numbuh One shakes his head. "This is Numbuh Three we're talking about; you're pulling my leg." He takes a quick glance at the aforementioned girl, his thick sunglasses hiding the suspicion in his eyes.

Numbuh Three suddenly feels like she is being watched, and when she whirls around in her seat to discover that it is her leader, she frowns deeply, crossing her arms all pouty-like. "Stop staring at me, you yucky, piggish poopmeister!"

"WHY!?" Numbuh One yells frustratedly. "What did I ever do to you!?"

"It's not what you _did_ do, it's what you're _gonna_ do!" she smirks proudly, as if she just said the most intelligent thing in the entire world.

"What?" asks the boy, blinking multiple times.

"You know what it is!"

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't!"

"Yes, you do!"

"No, I don't... times two!"

"Yes, you do... times infinity!"

"Ohhhhh, you're good," comments Numbuh One, rubbing his chin.

"You think so?" smiles Numbuh Three. But she remembers what her teddy bear told her earlier and she frowns again, rolling her chair back to her controls, 'hmph'ing.

"I'm telling you, Numbuh Three, I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"OH, I don't feel like talking to you!" she backtalks, not even bothering to turn around.

Numbuh One leans back in his chair, grumbling. If he weren't so busy trying to convince her that he hasn't done anything to her, he would have noticed that the other members were watching the exchange the entire time. They scratch behind their necks confusedly before going back to what they're doing.

Numbuh One sighs exasperatedly again when the voice re-enters his head. {"My, that was one entertaining show you two put on."}

"Quiet..."

{"Hey, don't 'quiet' me. You go on and continue to not listen to me about Number Three. But don't cry to me if she happens to knock you and the others out and hand you over to your enemies. Now I must go!"}

The little leader boy begins to wonder. Could this voice be right? Could Numbuh Three possibly be the traitor? The voice is right about her acting weirder than she usually does right after the emergency meeting. She's been acting less like herself. She isn't really smiling, dancing around, or overall being her bubbly self. Instead she's frowning _way_ too much, yelling (angrily anyway), insulting, and... being serious? Even though he would like her to focus on their missions more, he finds this abrupt change in behavior rather unusual.

The only time she had ever acted even CLOSE to how she is now was when the Delightful Children's lice monsters destroyed almost all of her stuffed animals. But she was _provoked_ into her 'bad side' then, unlike in this case as far as he knows. Something's definitely not right here...

He snaps back into attention when the M.O.S.Q.U.I.T.T.O.H. suddenly rocks violently, nearly knocking him out of his chair. Adjusting his sunglasses, a bewildered Numbuh One demands, "What's going on?"

"Um, I think they're attacking us," Numbuh Two answers half-sarcastically.

"What? Why didn't you blast the ice cream at them?"

"... you never told me to," replies the pilot, shrinking into his seat. "You said to wait till you say so, and I've been waiting since you were yelling at Numbuh Three. ... And just sitting there talking to yourself." He shrinks back even further when he realizes the tone of voice he's using against his leader.

But instead of chastising the air vehicle-lover, Numbuh One points ahead and commands, "Never mind that! Ready the main gun!"

"Readying..." chorus his comrades.

* * * * *

"Hmmm, didn't expect them to begin to fire this soon. Better prolong it a little longer just for fun..."

* * * * *

"Huh? What are you doing, banana?" The Kids Next Door leader asks a dancing banana in front of him with the most weirded-out of expressions.

The others almost instantly twirl around in their seats, thinking Numbuh One is calling them a name. But apparently he isn't. Instead they see him staring down at empty space below him with quite a confused look.

"Eh? Why you talking 'bout bananas?" asks Numbuh Five, beginning to question her leader's sanity.

"Yeah, I ain't seein' anything," adds Numbuh Four. "We hafta fight back an' use the main gun already!"

"Uh?" their commander shakes his head, shutting his eyes. When he reopens them the dancing banana is gone. Rubbing his eyes and slightly fearing for his mental state, he says, "Oh yeah! Ready to fire!" as if nothing happened. The master pilot of the team scratches his head again and continues to aim.

* * * * *

"Let's see, who have I not picked on yet?" Manasa asks herself. "I've gotten to Nigel, then Kuki... I know!" She snaps her fingers and extends her hand towards the cockpit of the KND's transportation/aerial battler.

* * * * *

Numbuh Two begins to fire at the KND's opponents when he suddenly receives a message on his monitor, which reads: "Numbuh One called you a big, fat piece of lard! You're going to let him get away with that?"

"WHAT!?" he yells, whirling to Numbuh One immediately. "You take that back!"

"Huh?" question the others.

"One just called me a big, fat piece of lard!"

"I didn't hear him say anything!" defends Numbuh Five. "Now will you fire already!?"

The chubby boy makes like he's going to do as told when suddenly he gets a tingling feeling in his head. The next thing he knows, he's angrily crossing his arms. "No. He just insulted me. I feel so offended! Humph!"

"Wait a minute! I'm the leader here and I say FIRE!" orders Numbuh One, impatiently.

Numbuh Four yelps when he sees the Groundbot suddenly lowering its tentacles and bringing its guns and cannons together. "Oh no! Those Delightful nerds are gonna use their own gun on us! We've gotta do somethin'!" he panics.

"I said fire the gun, Numbuh Two," orders Numbuh One again in a low but angry tone.

The aforementioned comrade opens his mouth to say yes, but that feeling returns and he glares defiantly, saying one simple word:

"... NO!"

Numbuhs Three, Four, and Five gasp loudly, slapping their hands over their mouths in shock. None of the Kids Next Door have ever _dared_ to deliberately disobey their leader!

"I said fire the gun, Numbuh Two!" Numbuh One's voice dangerously rises.

"Take back what you said about me and I might."

"You MIGHT? I'm not going to take back what I never said! And if you don't obey my orders, you're no longer part of this team!"

The spectators worriedly watch the argument before them. They've seen their commander angry before-- in fact, he's mad lots of times. But never was he so angry that he threatened to boot any of his fellow operatives out of his team.

And Numbuh Two knows that. He's angry about what Numbuh One said, or what he thinks he said. But he still loves being a Kid Next Door. So, reluctantly, he growls, "Fine!" and mashes the button. The M.O.S.Q.U.I.T.T.O.H.'s cannon charges up and then blasts out a mighty large ice cream cone at the Delightful Children's Groundbot, and it connects before the Groundbot can unleash its most dangerous attack. With the machine _creamed_, its weapons and tentacles are disabled, rendering the Delightful Children powerless. The Kids Next Door win again.

* * * * *

The DCFDTL are, of course, not too happy with this turn of events. They expected the Kids Next Door to lose! Why? What went wrong?

As the Children drive their ruined Groundbot back to their mansion, Manasa appears from the shadows behind them, slightly smirking. Sensing her presence, the Delightful Children do not bother to face her when they chorus frustratedly, "The Kids Next Door stand victorious again. Mind explaining why?"

"If you'd turn around and turn on your Groundbot telescope, you'd see why we let them win."

So they make a 180-degree turn and switch on the scope, magnifying to the cockpit of the Kids Next Door's M.O.S.Q.U.I.T.T.O.H. The Children can't help but smirk: Instead of celebrating their victory, the KND are arguing among themselves, especially Numbuh One and Numbuh Two. It's almost as if they don't even notice that their enemies are retreating.

"Now you see?" asks Manasa, smiling a bit before ascending out of their machine again. The DCFDTL snicker... then burst out laughing their monotonous laugh.

* * * * *

Since there is nothing else to do, the Kids Next Door ride to their Treehouse headquarters and land on their port. When they enter the main room Numbuh Two almost immediately whips to Numbuh One, pointing at him accusingly.

"All right, Numbuh One, out with it. Apologize."

"Apologize for what?"

"For insulting me."

"Here we go again..." sighs Numbuh Three. She really doesn't like it when her friends fight, especially like this.

"I ain't hear him say nothin'!" Numbuh Four crosses his arms.

"That's 'I didn't hear him say anything,' Numbuh Four," Numbuh Two corrects the blonde boy, who responds with a shrug. "And Numbuh One _too_ said something bad about me. A message on my screen popped up saying so."

"... wait, an _on-screen message_ told you so?" asks the leader of the gang.

"Um, yeah?"

"Then leader-man couldn't've dissed ya, Numbuh Two, he was too busy dealin' with those Delightful chumps!" the capped girl tells him.

"Yea'," agrees the bubbly Numbuh Three, "something like that woulda came up on all of our little TV thingies; an' y'know _I_ woulda heard Numbuh One say something..." She glances at her leader before turning away again, crossing her arms.

"But... but..." the pilot begins to protest but knows it's no use. They're right.

"Geez, first Numbuh One, now Numbuh Two is going crazy. Who's next?" wonders a slightly worried Numbuh Four.

Suddenly all eyes fall on a now confused Numbuh Three. "Wha'?"

"Well... I've always _thought_ she was a bit loopy," mutters Numbuh One. 'Especially after today,' he finishes in his mind.

"Hey!"

"Hey, don't talk 'bout my girl that way. ... even though it is sometimes true," Numbuh Five playfully jokes.

"Oh, I don't hafta take this..." And with that, Numbuh Three walks to her room without saying anything else.

"How unusual. She handled that in a rather adult-fighter-like manner," remarks Numbuh One, being careful not to say 'mature' since he feels mature = adult.

But Numbuh One erases that thought when she suddenly pokes her head out and sticks her tongue out, going "Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyahhhhh nyahhhhh!", and exits again.

"Never mind."

Feeling very awful, Numbuh Two shamefully twiddles his fingers as he steps up to the leader. Without even looking into the sunglasses-covered eyes, he nervously says, "Um... Numbuh One... I'm... uh... I'm...."

"Forget about it," the kid commander says seriously, adjusting his shades. "It's all right. We're just stressed from the fight."

"This is too weird," the hoody-wearing boy comments. "It's like this team is falling apart or something."

"Yeah!" Numbuh Five agrees. "This ain't cool."

"We're just having a bad day, team. Maybe after we get some shuteye it'll get better the next day," suggests Numbuh One.

"Maybe," says the inventor boy. "But I still smell something fishy."

"Yer smelling somethin' fishy 'cause yer always thinkin' about fish. An' other food." Numbuh Four couldn't help but crack that joke. And he pays for it when his victim chases him around the room, aiming to play a souped-up version of Tag.

"Heh heh heh. Well at least some things are still normal 'round here," Numbuh Five comments, lowering the visor of her cap as she heads for her upper middle class-style room, barely avoiding being run over by the two boys.

* * * * *

The rest of the day is pretty much uneventful. Since there have been no reports or sightings of evil adults terrorizing somewhere, the Kids decide to spend the rest of the day playing games or watching television. They even manage to avoid the traitor subject during dinnertime.

Then later that evening, just before the time where the Kids would usually retire for the night (except for Numbuh Two who usually stays up a bit later than the others to work on his planes, toys, or inventions meant to aid the KND), Numbuh One flops on his rectangular trampoline bed with a sigh. He begins to wonder if his imagina-- 'mystery voice' finally went away.

Boy is he wrong.

{"Numbuh One! Nigel!"}

"Now what?" he asks impatiently.

{"Are you still concerned for Numbuh Three?"}

"Well, yes, a little. But she seems fine now."

{"Oh, really? She could be pretending to be fine, but she could really be hiding something. Like covering up an injury, an illness... or some treachury."}

"... I was really hoping to drop this ratfink business for the day."

{"But you can't, Nigel dear. The traitor could stab you and the others in the back anytime. Numbuh Three is your first suspect, right? Then interrogate her.}

"_Interrogate_ her?" asks Numbuh One in surprise.

{"No, no, you don't have to _hurt_ her. Just convince her to crack up somehow. Better safe than sorry, I say. Now I must go!}

* * * * *

Numbuh Four releases his stress from today against his punching bag hanging over the wrestling ring-like platform, while listening to some rock music on his small stereo. Numbuh One and his imaginary friend... Numbuh Two and his accussing their leader of making fun of him when he didn't... Numbuh Three and her being weirder than she usually is... Something very cruddy is going on. If only he can find out what.

The boy growls when the music abruptly stops playing. Thinking his stereo is "crudding up," he goes over to attempt to fix it. But he stops quick in his tracks when he feels and hears something enter his head. Now what?

{"Sorry, Wallabee Beatles, but you wouldn't be able to hear me over that ruckus of yours."}

"Oh, no!" Numbuh Four freaks out. "Numbuh One is spreading his imaginary friend disease to me!"

{"Ha ha ha ha! 'Imaginary friend disease'! Where do you kids come up with this stuff?"}

"What do ya cruddy want wit' me? How do ya know my name, anywho?"

{"To give you some words of advice,} says the invisible person, ignoring his second question. {What do you suppose Number Five could be doing?"}

"I don't know. Stupid girly stuff?"

{"Maybe. Or perhaps she could be selling information to the Delightful Children From Down The Lane!"}

"An' what gives ya that ridiculous idea!?"

{"You're still worried about who the traitor is, aren't you? Admit it, Wallabee... you really don't think it's Number Three."}

"Of course I don't! She's my friend! They all are! None of them could be traitors."

{"You're really going to take that chance? Your leader did say so."}

"Yeah, his own imaginary friend told him so; that's pretty reliable," Numbuh Four replies sarcastically, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

{"Suit yourself. But if you ever change your mind, I recommend you sneak to her to find out what she could be doing. You won't regret it... but then again, you might... Now I must go."} The moment the voice finishes, the music cuts back on again.

The boy stands there, blinking. He really doesn't want to believe that any of his friends could be betraying the team. But then again, if they are, he should check it out. Maybe if he keeps telling himself that there's no traitor, there really wouldn't be one at all. One thing still puzzles him, though:

What did the voice mean by, 'You won't regret it... but then again, you might...'?

* * * * *

Numbuh Three hums a cheerful tune as she gets ready for bed. As she does so, she takes a look at her teddy bear on her bed -- the same one that "talked" to her this morning -- curiously. How can a stuffed animal talk? And how can it know what Numbuh One is thinking? Maybe it was just her imagination. Yes, maybe. She mashes that thought into her brain, gets into her large, pink stuffed animal-like bed, pulls the covers over her, and just about readies herself for slumber when her teddy bear suddenly hops up on top of her bed, smirking at her.

"Boo!"

"Eeep!" the girl cries. But she sighs with relief after seeing it's just her teddy bear, somehow come to life again. "It's you. Are you gonna tell me how you're alive yet?"

"Nope, not yet. But I have new information for you. I want you to listen, Kuki dear, and listen good. Tonight he's coming to getcha!"

"What? That yucky, icky boy is coming to get me? Oh no!"

"Yes, while you're sleeping. But now that you know that, you'll be prepared. Then when he comes in, WHAM!"

Numbuh Three seems reluctant. "Gee, I don't know... I was thinking of talking it out, not beating him up or anything like that. I don't wanna hurt him."

The teddy bear rolls its eyes. "Okkkaayyy... Let me put it THIS way!"

Suddenly, the girl feels something strange in her head and she suddenly frowns a rather scary frown.

"You're going to get HIM before he gets YOU!"

* * * * *

Numbuh Four crawls through the airducts; Numbuh Five's room is simply straight ahead. He finally makes it there and he peers around through the vent. But he doesn't see the dark girl anywhere. Numbuh Four scratches his head suspiciously before taking another route through the ducts. Eventually he hears Numbuh Five's voice. It sounds more like humming than actual talking, but he still has to check it out. So he finds the vent leading to where her voice is coming from. It's Numbuh Five's voice, all right, but the room she's in and what she could be doing isn't quite what he expected...

* * * * *

Numbuh One knocks on Numbuh Three's bedroom door a couple of times before he slowly enters. "Numbuh Three?" he whispers. No response. He makes his way through the forest of stuffed animals and monsters, also being careful not to step on the piles of her toys. Eventually he finds the bed. He whispers her name again but still gets no response. He lifts the covers up...

And sees no raven-haired girl sleeping there.

"What the...?" is all the bald-headed boy can say. He rubs under his chin and begins to think suspicious thoughts about his 'friend,' when he suddenly hears what sounds like a footstep behind him. He only gets a chance to turn around halfway before a pillow gives him quite a rude greeting right there in the face, forcing him facedown unto the bed.

"Now I gotcha, you ickmeister!" yells a ticked-off Numbuh Three as she punishes the boy with repeated pillow smacks to the head. Numbuh One tries to get away but unfortunately the girl has greater speed than he does -- she simply kicks his behind when he tries to get up, and that of course doesn't feel quite as good as the pillow-pummelling he's receiving.

"Numbuh Three, OW, what are you doing-EEE!?"

"I should be asking YOU that, you yucky boy! Trying to play 'Doctor' with me!"

"I was NOT going to, OOF, play Doctor with you, UGH! I just thought that, EEE, you were the traitor! Besides, I thought you, OUCH, _like_ playing 'Doctor' with your toys and stuff!?"

"Of course I do... But you're planning to p'form a 'check-up' on me... that certain form of check-up where I'd have to... to..."

"To what? What do you think, OWIE, I'm trying to... Ohhhhhhhh. Oof!" Numbuh One suddenly feels his cheeks becoming slightly hot when he realizes what she means. "I wasn't going to do THAT to you!"

"Yes you were. My teddy bear said so!"

"What...!?"

"An' I can't believe you would think I'd betray the Kids Next Door! I'm not the traitor, so there! Just get out of my room! Out, out, out!"

So Numbuh Three finally lets Numbuh One go and whips her finger to the door. A severely pillow-whooped Numbuh One promptly obeys and he dashes out of her room and back into his.

Okay... so now he knows the traitor _isn't_ Numbuh Three after all. The voice was wrong. The question now is, if there IS a rat, who is it? How can this mysterious voice know something like that? And how can a stuffed animal talk to her? One thing he _is_ sure of, though: He now knows why Numbuh Five frequently loses to a pillow fight against Numbuh Three.

* * * * *

"Uh... wrong room," mumbles Numbuh Four. He discovers why Numbuh Five sounds like she's humming all right, but unfortunately the _other_ sounds coming from the room she's in stops..., telling him he'd better leave _now_. In his nervousness he stands. And standing, or trying to stand, in an airduct is a _very_ bad idea, and he learns that the hard way. The pain of the bump immediately settles in his head, and in his haste in crouching down to favor his sore temple he accidently falls through the air vent all the way down to the floor of the room! A screech follows immediately afterwards.

Shaking the aftereffects of the fall, the blonde boy rubs his eyes, gets up...

And stands there, shocked, finding himself blushing feverishly. Well, the good news is that Numbuh Five isn't apparently selling information to the Delightful Children or any other villian after all.

The bad news is...

"YOU'VE BUSTED IN NUMBUH FIVE'S SHOWER TIME!!"

Numbuh Four can't help but tremble as he is seriously glared down by the un-capped girl, who is just now wrapped in a red towel. The boy laughs nervously and stutters. "U-U-Ummmm... I... I like your towel."

Numbuh Five charges him before he can even attempt to flee.

* * * * *

Numbuh Two emerges from the kitchen, carrying his late night snack: two apples and a drink, and heads back into his room. He stops, however, when a seriously wrecked Numbuh Four with his boxers sticking WAY out slithers by, groaning and holding back tears of pain.

"What the heck happened to you?" asks Numbuh Two, concerned.

"I just learned the hard way why you should never intrude into a girl's bathroom," the boy moans before crawling back into his own room, saying 'Ow, ow, ow' the rest of the way. Numbuh Two blinks, shrugs and continues eating.

He doesn't even notice a certain fly zipping out of the headquarters.

* * * * *

"Ah, it has arrived!" drawl the Delightful Children as their mechanical fly streaks into their room, sitting itself on top of a platform. An adapter extends out of its back and attaches itself to an outlet. The fly rumbles a bit and then a large, cylinder object emerges, unfolding into multiple monitors. They show footages of pretty much every incident that happened in Kids Next Door Headquarters this evening. Numbuh One and Two's argument, Numbuh Three showing her pillow-fighting skills to the leader of the ruffians, Numbuh Four learning a valuable lesson about privacy...

And all the while the Delightful Children sit there, eating their popcorn and drinking their sodas, laughing annoyingly throughout the entire "movie."

* * * * *

Meanwhile, Manasa, outside, stares at the moon lighting up the night sky, her long red hair flowing in the calm wind. The plan is working perfectly... Yes, perfectly indeed...

"Those silly children," she says to herself. "Those silly children have absolutely no idea what I'm truly capable of. ... And... what I'm truly going to do in the final phase of this ultimate plan. Hee hee hee hee heh heh heh heh HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAAAAAA!!!"

* * * * *

  
TO BE CONTINUED...


	3. Chapter Three

Now reloading: Kids Next Door mission...

Operation: M.I.N.D., Chapter Three

Writing Operative: Vtbots

--------------------

An awkward aura settles around the breakfast table the next morning. The Kids Next Door silently eat; their minds are occupied by... other things. Numbuh One is still rubbing his hairless head from the pounding Numbuh Three gave him with her pillow the night before. 'What was all _that_ all about!?' he shouts inwardly. 'Why does Numbuh Three think I would play Doctor with her in that way? And what is with her speaking to her teddy bear and her teddy bear speaking back to her? Even she should know stuffed animals and dolls do not talk in reality. It's strange. Numbuh Three accusing me. Numbuh Two deliberately disobeying my orders. Numbuh Four and Numbuh Five are acting weird this morning as well. And then there's this voice that keeps popping up in my head. In fact, nobody acted so... not like themselves until the night after I first heard her voice! Hmmm...'

"Man, what's with you guys!?" Numbuh Two blurts out, clutching his pilot cap in frustration. "Numbuh One, you're not talking about our missions. Numbuh Three, you're not playing with your food like you usually do. Numbuh Four, you're eating _normally_. And Numbuh Five... um... you're _too_ quiet. Just WHAT is going on here? Did I miss _that_ much when I was working on my machines last night?"

"Well you see, Numbuh Two... NUMBUH THREE PRACTICALLY DESTROYED ME WITH A PILLOW!" Numbuh One glares directly at the girl. If Numbuh Five wasn't too ticked at the Aussie boy, she would be bursting out laughing at the victim of the master pillow fighter.

"That's 'cause you were gonna do that 'check-up' kind of Play Doctor with me, and you know what I'd have to do then, you yucky, icky boy!" the Japanese girl counters.

"No, I was not! I came to your room because the voice in my head--"

"... told you that I may be the traitor!?" Numbuh Three shouts, obviously hurt by the accusation. "Well, she's wrong. I'm not. How can you believe her?"

"Because I cannot take any risks. When you hear of a possible rat in your team, it would be hard to ignore."

"So why am _I_ the first suspect?"

"You never acted that way towards me until right after I told you and the others about the ratfink. Look, I'm tired... can't we talk later?" the leader asks wearily.

"Humph," is his response as Numbuh Three storms off somewhere. Numbuh One sighs exasperatedly and flops back down on his seat, feeling another headache coming on.

"Ooooookay," Numbuh Two blinks. "So... what about you, Numbuh Four? What's with you and Numbuh Five?" he inquires as he swipes the Asian girl's deserted pop-tart from her plate, munching on it in quite an impolite way.

"Well... uh..."

"If you wantsta know what's Numbuh Five's problem, I'll tell ya!" exclaims the quite unhappy dark-skinned girl, cutting off the pink-faced Aussie boy. "Didn't Numbuh Five tell you guys NOT to intrude during her shower time!?"

"Numbuh Four, you were peeking at Numbuh Five? That is a rather suicidal mission..." remarks the commander.

"NO!" Numbuh Four protests, his cheeks becoming redder. "It wasn't anythin' like that. It's you!"

"What?"

"Yeah, you! I heard some weirdo voice tellin' me that Numbuh Five was sending out our team's information to an enemy! You're spreadin' yer imaginary friend disease!"

"Numbuh Five, is that true?"

"No way! I was mindin' my own business in my bathroom when that creep dropped in! Numbuh Five feels violated!" She clutches her shirt tightly for emphasis.

"Well... It's not like I did it on purpose," grumbles the accussed little boy, calmer but not intimidated by the girl's tone. "I was like Numbuh One, I had ta check it out myself to make sure it wasn't true. When I didn't see you in yer room, I got really suspicious so I tried to find ya. I jus' didn't know you were in THERE that time."

The capped girl simply glares at him silently, clenching her fists and looking like she's ready to strike.

"Really! It's the truth!" the boy tells her, sensing incoming retribution.

__

{"Then again, what can a pea-brained girl like you possibly know about truth?"}

"What was that!?" Numbuh Five says vehemently, forcing a surprised Numbuh Four a step back.

"Huh? I didn't say anything, other than I'm telling the truth about not peeking at you on purpose." Even Numbuhs One and Two are confused by the dark girl's sudden outburst.

"I _heard_ what you said, you called me pea-brained."

"I never said that!"

__

{"Don't be a liar, you mop-headed shrimp."}

"Hey!" Now Numbuh Four is the one speaking vehemently, whipping his finger to the accused.

"What?"

"What do you mean 'what?', you just insulted me in ma face. Though it's quite amazin' yer lips didn't move..."

"Dat's 'cuz I didn't say nuthin'! Humph! I ain't gonna take this from you!" So Numbuh Five storms away from the dining room with her nose and cap visor high in the air.

The chubby Kid Next Door rubs under his chin in wonder. "You two got some serious issues needed to take care of," he comments.

"It's not _my_ fault this team is coming apart!" the other boy declares as he, too, leaves the room.

"We're not _really_ falling apart... Are we, Numbuh One?" asks the pilot in utmost worry.

__

{"If we are, you'll be the one blamed for all this, traitor."}

"Huh?"

"I said that we're all just stressed from this traitor business," answers Numbuh One.

"Mmm. I thought you said something else. Must be my imagination."

* * * * *

"Mm-Mm-Mm. Those poor kids," Manasa comments under her breath, watching them from outside their treehouse base. "My work is really taking its toll on them. Especially on little Nigel Uno. But I better finish the job now; he, if not the entire Kids Next Door, is bound to catch on to these strange occurrences eventually. I'll make this quick."

* * * * *

Nigel Uno hasn't left the dining room since the chaos that happened earlier. He just stares down at his plate, empty except for toast crumbs, becoming more and more upset at the arguments that have been ensuing frequently lately, and more and more suspicious about _why_ his friends behaving in such a way toward each other. Numbuh Two is right, nobody is acting like him- or herself.

"Could this be the work of the traitor?" he asks himself. He shakes his head quickly in an attempt to perish that thought, but it remains. The voice told him the other night that one of the Kids Next Door is a rat, and he has to believe it despite his doubts. After all, he has to protect the rest of his friends, as well as any information that the Kids Next Door would not want leaked out.

But what if the voice is wrong? What if there _is_ no treachury being committed? There has to be another possibility...

Before Numbuh One can search in his mind for other possible reasons, several sounds of struggle and then some angry voices flare from the other room. Grumbling, he irritably hops out of his chair and sprints to the main room of the base.

There he finds the Aussie-accented boy twisting the pilot's hands to his (Numbuh Two's) backside and clutching it tight, as if he's handcuffing him. Numbuh Two tries to get away from him, but Numbuh Four isn't called the hand-to-hand combat specialist for nothing. Numbuh Three and Numbuh Five are standing nearby, staring concerned at the boys, though sometimes it's hard to tell if Numbuh Three is paying attention since she has her eyes closed most of the time.

The leader grumbles again and shakes his head, storming over to them impatiently. "What is the meaning of this!? What are you doing, Numbuh Four!?" he demands.

"Maybe they're playing Cops 'n' Robbers," Numbuh Three suggests, smiling cheerfully. But when she suddenly remembers who she's talking to, she frowns and averts her eyes away from him, 'hmph'ing.

"No we ain't!" Numbuh Four replies through gritted teeth. "I just discovered who the traitor could be!"

"What!? I'm not the traitor!" the accused member shouts defensively.

"Are _too_!" the blonde boy shouts back.

"Yo blondie, let 'em go," says Numbuh Five.

"I can't! He'll get away!"

"What makes you think that Numbuh Two is the traitor, Numbuh Four?" Numbuh One asks calmly.

Gripping onto the chubby boy's hands tight, Numbuh Four whirls around and forces the detained Kid on his knees in front of their commander.

"Think about it, Numbuh One!" the Aussie tells him. "He almost got us wiped out yesterday when he disobeyed orders!"

"Like you don't disobey orders?" Numbuh Two retorts.

"Shut up!" growls Numbuh Four, squeezing his captive's hands, causing Numbuh Two to grind his teeth to resist a loud 'Ouch!' from escaping his mouth. "He probably made up the stuff about you making fun of him so he'll have a pathetic excuse not to blast the Delightful dorks' Groundbot to smithereenies!"

"I did not!"

"I said quiet! And when he realized that he was about to be caught, he decided to shoot anyway and 'apologized' to keep up his spy business."

"Wouldn't _anybody_ apologize after _falsely accusing_ someone?" Numbuh Two asks angrily, purposely emphasizing 'falsely accussing' as he tries to glare at him.

"Not to mention he was way too cool when things started going down," continues Numbuh Four, ignoring the other person's question. "Like after meeting with a certain... 'accident' of mine," he glances at the dark-skinned girl nearby, who crosses her arms and glares under the shadow of her cap. " 'cause I was doin' what some weirdo voice told me to do, Numbuh Two just _happened_ to stroll by like nothing happened!"

"I was in the kitchen, dummy, I COULDN'T have heard!"

"And what about this morning? His blabberin' instigated fights b'tween us, an' now this team is crumbling even more apart!"

"I thought he was just being concerned like any friend would," says Numbuh Three nervously, twiddling her sleeved fingers.

"Don't you get it, Numbuh Three, he's PRETENDING to be our friend so when we least expect it, POW!"

"No!" cries Numbuh Two. "Numbuh One, he's acting crazy, I'm not the traitor! You have to believe me!"

Numbuh One looks at the boy's tear-stained face, then at the furious-faced Aussie boy, then to the two worried-face girls. Each one of them... a suspect. Numbuh Four brought up a couple of points, but is that really enough to charge Numbuh Two for betrayal? Numbuh Four can be just as guilty, trying to make it like someone else is the traitor to save his own behind. Numbuh One (and the voice) already explained to himself how Numbuh Three's recent behavior may make her a suspect. And what about Numbuh Five? She hasn't talked much about this traitor thing. Could she really be watching the group tear each other apart and waiting for the right moment to strike?

Nigel Uno doesn't know what to think or do. If only that voice never came to him, none of this would be happening. Unfortunately, it is. And now everyone expects him to say whether or not Numbuh Two is the traitor. But if he says no, then no doubt another KND member would get accused, which would only fan the flames. So, sighing solemnly, he answers Numbuh Two the best way he can:

"I don't know who or _what_ to believe anymore."

"I... I don't believe this," Numbuh Two says sadly, his sudden newfound strength breaking himself away from Numbuh Four. "You think I'm the dirty rat!"

"I did not say that."

"Yes, you did! If you really _don't_ think I am, you would have said no. But you didn't!"

"Numbuh Two--"

"I can't believe my own friends think I would do such terrible things to the Kids Next Door. I... I don't feel like being around here anymore."

So, holding back tears and biting his lower lip, Hoagie P. Gilligan, Jr. turns and, stuffing his hands into his pockets and sniffling, walks away from his former friends and out of the base. The Kids Next Door, except Numbuh Four, all try to call him back but to no avail. Soon enough he is long gone.

Immediately Numbuh Five whirls to the Numbuh that comes before her and gets right into his face. "Now lookat whatchoo did! Numbuh Two may never speak to us again!" she roars.

"I didn't see you try to stop him," says Numbuh Four unsincerely.

"I _thought_ that, being the 'friend' you are, you'd see that you were wrong and would apologize to 'em!" Numbuh Five exclaims, shoving him roughly.

One and Three immediately sense something nasty and try to get in-between those two, but Numbuh Four pushes the both of them away.

"Hey, we're talkin' hea'!" he tells them. "This missy here is defendin' the rat and lettin' him get away."

"What's with you?" asks Numbuh Five, shaking her head incredulously. "How can you believe that he's traitorin' our team? He's your friend! Or ratha, _was_ your friend."

"I had a change of heart."

"... And when did you have that change of heart?" Numbuh One asks curiously.

"Like... a few minutes ago. But why does that matta?"

"Hmmmmmm." Numbuh One turns away from the fray, furrowing his brow as if thinking of something that requires deep concentration.

Numbuh Three looks on silently, covering her mouth with her over-sleeved hands. Oh, how can this be happening to this group of bestest friends? Why is it happening? One of the Kids Next Door have left the team, and now two of them are in a heated argument, the worst case scenario being they'd settle it with fisticuffs. And from the looks of their eyes, it appears that worse case scenario just may happen!

"Why are you defendin' the rat so much, Numbuh Five? Couldja be in league with the enemy, too!?"

"Now you think I'M screwing the Kids Next Door? Boy, I think I need ta set you straight!" And to show that she's serious, she removes her crimson hat and tosses it behind her, her rage-building eyes now completely visible to everyone.

"Try an' you'll regret it," Numbuh Four says through gritted teeth, clenching his fists threateningly.

"I'll try but I don't think _I'll_ be the one regretting it, blondie," the girl smirks.

Wallabee yells a war cry as he lunges at the taunting girl, tackling her to the ground.

"Gah, that IS enough, you two, cut it out NOW!" Numbuh One orders, his broken concentration amplifying his anger.

"No, stop, please!" Numbuh Three pleads.

But their calls fall on deaf ears. They step in to pull them away from each other, only to be pushed back by the both of them. So Numbuh One and Numbuh Three sigh defeatedly and let those two duke it out.

Numbuh Four hoists Numbuh Five on his shoulders and laughs as he spins around and then slams her backfirst on the Treehouse floor! Then, for good measure, he sticks his elbow out and lets himself crash right into the heart of the girl. It stings her a little, but it's nothing compared to crashing through walls and being shot by lasers and such in real battles. She would consider this horseplay, except she and the boy aren't really playing.

Numbuh Four grins as he watches her favoring her chest and grunting. Numbuhs One and Three both hope that that's the end of that. But unfortunately, Numbuh Four feels like wanting to taunt Numbuh Five some more. He bends down and smirks right into her face.

"How'd you like that?"

"... You think you're the only one who can do that sorta stuff?"

"What?"

Abigail answers him by rocketing her foot right into his midsection, and he doubles over grinding his teeth. Snickering, she forces him down on his face and, crouching over him, she pulls his leg over into a deadly leglock!

Although they disapprove of this fight, Numbuhs One and Three can't help but be surprised yet impressed at the maneuvers Numbuh Five unleashed. And obviously Numbuh Four is caught off-guard, and finds himself desperately suppressing whimpers from the pain shooting throughout his body. He grits his chompers as he resists "tapping out."

"C'mon, Numbuh Four! Say it!" the dark-skinned agent taunts.

"No!" grunts her victim.

"Say it! C'mon, SAY IT!"

"Arrrgh!"

Frustrated by his resistance, Numbuh Five pulls even harder, adding in more pain to her move. Numbuh Four clenches his fists very tightly and sweat beads begin to pop up on his forehead. This is too much...

"Awright, I give!" he exclaims, quickly tapping his hand on the floor, "I give!"

Numbuh Five laughs as she roughly releases the painful hold, standing over the blonde triumphantly with her fists on her hips. Numbuh One and Numbuh Three breathe a sigh of relief -- finally, it's over.

A pride-damaged Numbuh Four stands on his wobbly legs, staring jaw-opened at the girl in front of him. He showed off and he paid for it... by being beaten by a girl!? This is too much for his ego. He has to get away.

"That is, I give... up being here! Yeah, I give up being around here, 'specially with rats and rat-defenders an' stuff. So I'ma leavin', an' don'tcha try ta stop me!" He declares that with a "Ha!" and runs out of there, though speed is impaired.

"Well, there goes another one," comments the braided-hair girl, recovering her red cap. Then she whips to the silent Numbuh One and exclaims, "I can't believe you dragged HIM into the Kids Next Door! First he scared away Numbuh Two, then accused me of being the betrayer!"

But Numbuh One doesn't respond. He just continues to stare down at the floor with furrowed brows.

"Are you listening to me?"

The commander doesn't answer.

"Numbuh One, Kids Next Door is fallin' apart! Aren'tcha gonna do something? Do leader stuff! Tell us what to do!"

He again doesn't answer.

"Tch! Fine! Maybe I should make like Numbuh Four and not stick around here, too. Especially when we have a leada who used to be cool, but now sucks!" Numbuh Three gasps at that insult, but Numbuh Five ignores her as she storms out of the Treehouse.

Now only two Kids remain. Numbuh One hasn't moved at all, and Numbuh Three appears to be interested in her shoes. She suddenly cannot stay mad at him anymore; this is much more serious than being a 'patient' of Play Doctor. Somehow she can't help but feel that she has something to do with Numbuh One's behavior. Perhaps if she tried listening to him instead of yelling...

'But why DID I get _that_ mad at him like that?' the Asian girl asks herself. She was at first grossed-out at what Numbuh One wanted to do with her, but she could have sworn that later she wanted to apologize to him for that outburst and actually listen to his side of the story. But something... clicked inside her that prevented her from doing so. She can't tell what, though.

"Well, aren't you leaving, too?" the immobile leader cuts off her thoughts and the unnerving silence.

"I don't know," Numbuh Three answers honestly, digging the floor with her foot. "I don't wanna leave. But... there's nothing else to do here. Everyone is gone."

"I'm still here."

"Yeah, but... you're not yourself."

The boy in sunshades can only turn his head away from her even though she is right. He isn't being himself... And all because of this traitor thing and this mysterious voice that just came out of nowhere.

"I... gotta go. There's no fun here anymore. Or, more 'm'portantly... there's no friends here anymore. Not the friends _I_ knew, anyway." The Asian girl stares at her silent, former leader one more time and sighs, walking away. Drops of saltwater from her eyes hit the ground before she reluctantly exits out of the base.

"Yeah... go ahead and go," Numbuh One grumbles after minutes of loneliness. He sinks to his knees, clutching his shades. Then, with anger boiling in his blood, he tosses away his trademark accessory and pounds repeatedly on the floor, finally letting his frustrations all out. "WHY!? WHY is this happening!? HOW is this happening!? Come on, you stupid voice, ANSWER ME!!!"

But the mysterious voice does not respond, and that doubles his anger -- NOW she's choosing not to talk to him?? He continously hammers his fists on the Treehouse floor in rage, screaming out all his stress. When he spends the last of his energy, his anger subsides and he sighs, wiping away the tears falling from his cheeks.

* * * * *

Half an hour has passed, and now he's calmed. Now he can try to figure out just what is going on, with or without the womanly voice or his friends.

"I have to think back," he says. "Think back when this whole chaos started. Let's see. After we defeated the Delightful Children a couple of days ago, we left laughing at them. Then, that night, the voice came to me telling me that there's a traitor within the Kids Next Door and that the Delightful Children were planning an attack. Then I told the others about this and they didn't believe me.

"Wait... The Delightful Children! They're major suspects as well. Of course! All of these incidents just happen to occur right after we, uh, humiliated them that day. Let's not forget the way they acted when we arrived at their supposed Groundbot destination. They sounded rather... melodramatic. A little _too_ melodramatic. Perhaps they may have something to do with this! I'm going to pay them a visit and get to the bottom of this! Ugh, if only I had thought of this in the first place, it would have saved me a lot of trouble! As well as my friends..."

With new determination coursing through his body, he slams his fist into the palm of his other hand, goes to his room to obtain his S.C.A.M.P.P. weapon, and ignites his jet boots (yes, he has jet boots if you've ever watched the show's opening) to fly out of headquarters. He then lands on the ground and decides to walk it. Despite his enthusiasm, he still needs to regain his energy from the arguments from this morning and from his treating the floor like a punching bag. And besides, he does need more time to think. And a lot of thinking he needs to do.

After all... he doesn't have the Kids Next Door anymore.

* * * * *

Earlier... [Note: This scene occurs shortly after Numbuh Three left the Kids Next Door.]

The Delightful Children From Down The Lane's mechanical fly flies out of the Kids' headquarters and back to the DC's mansion. The fly lands in front of the Delightful Children's desk and the video monitors pop up, showing all the events that occurred that morning. They chorus in laughter, spitting out their popcorn in the process, as they view the Kids arguing with each other and abandoning the team. They especially express joy from the little Four and Five fight. They fake weep as the scene between One and Three comes up, then cheer when the "movie" finally ends. At last, the Kids Next Door are no more!

As they are asking among themselves whether they should throw a celebration party, Manasa comes floating in, a slight smirk growing as she looks into the happy faces of her employers. "I see you saw the finishing touches of my work."

"Yes," drawl the Children. "You have broken up those obnoxious Kids Next Door! Excellent work, Manasa. You have done very well."

"Thank you. Now, I've done my end of the bargain, now you do yours, if you don't mind."

"Of course, Manasa. You wanted a guarantee to see Father. Well, you are the first person other than ourselves who will see him in person. But you never told us the reason you wish to meet with him. May we again ask why?"

Manasa just smirks. "I have some... things to take care of with him. Something I wanted to do a long time ago but couldn't before. But before I go meet him, is it alright if I have some ice cream?"

The Delightful Children blink questionably at the woman, but shrug. "Well, yes, help yourself. I hope you enjoy your visit with Father."

"Oh, don't worry, children, I will. It will be a killer." She laughs strangely as she closes the door behind her.

The properly-dressed Children lean back on their tall chair and relax. Finally, those Kids Next Door are GONE! They plan to celebrate this victory later on tonight. But as they look out at the door where Manasa exited out of, they each rub their chins in puzzlement. They had their suspicions about her before. But now their suspicions have grown even more.

Especially after the way she said 'killer'...

* * * * *

  
TO BE CONTINUED...


	4. Chapter Four

Now reloading: Kids Next Door mission...

Operation: M.I.N.D., Chapter Four

Writing Operative: Vtbots

--------------------

For anyone wanting to cool down on a hot day, they sure better not stay in the Delightful Children's 'Father's' room. Flaming torches surround DC Father's (Delightful Children's Father's) easy chair/throne combination, illuminating the barely lit room. Not only that, but the father himself is quite an enigma: An almost featureless, shadowish form of a man with fiery yellow eyes, smoking his pipe and tapping his finger on the arm of his chair. When in his 'normal' moods he simply stays as his dark self. But when furious or "most displeased," he becomes surrounded in a ball of flame varying in size according to his level of anger.

At the moment he is somewhat displeased. He can still clearly remember the loss he suffered when he fought the Kids Next Door in person for the first time recently. The Kids Next Door were nearing defeat, and still he could not beat them!? What is it that empowers them so?

As DC Father thinks evil thoughts, a red-haired woman slowly steps into the long aisle leading up to his throne. The mutant-like being senses her presence and growls deep in his throat.

"Who goes there!?" he roars, not turning around in his seat.

"It is I, the humble servant whom your Delightful Children hired," Manasa answers sarcastically. "Who else?"

"Ah, you. I do not let just anybody enter my room, you know. If you are here, then that can only mean one thing: The Kids Next Door are out of my hair for good, yes?"

"Perhaps." As she speaks, she side-steps to one of the pillars and places behind it a couple 'special surprises' she was hiding behind her back. This whole time she wears a threatening scowl.

"At last! No more fools across the street or whatever they call themselves. Stand right there, I want to see the face of the woman who made my day."

The Father of the Delightful Children rests his hands on the arms of his chair, and spins around to stare down at his childrens' employee below. His topaz eyes light up in flames as familiarity strikes him.

"You! Where have I seen you before?"

As if offended at not being remembered, Manasa frowns even deeper. "You ruined me, freak, and you have forgotten who I am!? You are no different than you were those horrible years ago!"

"What are you talking abo... Wait... no..." DC Father becomes engulfed by flames of rage (literally), "IT CAN'T BE! I THOUGHT YOU WERE--"

"Well I'm not, you monster!" Manasa growls furiously. "You and your experiments..."

"My experiments made me a very rich man, can't you see that?"

"Your experiments also ruined many lives, including my own! I remember it all well. I was only in middle school then, when you one day visited, no, invaded my home and took me in to your creepy labs to try your genetic-engineering. You claimed it was for a 'good cause,' which in your eyes equals money and no bad children. But something went wrong -- The machine malfunctioned and I was badly injured.

"When I came to," Manasa continues, "I felt... unusual. That was when I discovered my unique ability for the first time. I accidentally read the doctors' minds as they whispered among themselves, saying how I looked normal and that I was going to be okay. But I certainly didn't feel normal and I wasn't going to be okay later...

"One day at school, some bullies were picking on a kid -- one of my friends -- and they 'accidentally' pushed him down the stairs. I felt that he was on the verge of death and I was terribly frightened... So frightened that somehow I used my new powers to hold him... in mid-air! He was locked into a statis for a while before I realized what I was doing, so I gently let him down. I checked to see if he was okay, but before he could answer I blurted out 'Yes you do need the nurse, she'll fix you right up!'

"He froze. He asked me how'd I know what he was thinking, and I didn't know how to answer. That's when I noticed that everyone around me was staring. They all saw what I did... and I knew what they were thinking. Most were terrified, thinking I was a freak, a mutant... a monster! Some were thinking of arresting me before I 'kill somebody with my freaky tricks,' some wanted to hide, some wanted to throw me into a 'freak show.' I knew I couldn't stay there anymore... So I ran, not even bothering to listen to my friends' calls nor to read their thoughts. I didn't have to to know what they were thinking.

"It didn't take long for the news to arrive about the 'Special Girl.' My parents were still looking for me, but I couldn't face them... not anymore! So I ran back to your lab to get you to rid of my powers! But I was greeted with a horrible sight: You became a mutated fiery being. You claimed that the experiment on yourself was a success and that now you were able to 'punish them.'

"I read your mind to discover that you meant my friends' friends because you heard about them being bad children and deliberately disobeying adults! You decided to punish _my_ friends first because you thought they were associated with the 'troublemakers.' Naturally you were surprised by my ability and considered me a threat to your plans, blasting me to a state of unconsciousness and leaving me for dead as you burned the lab down."

"... how did you survive?" asks DC Father emotionlessly.

"When I woke up, I discovered the whole room on fire. I remembered in your thoughts about an emergency escape hatch. So I evacuated the lab from there. You were foolish not to make sure I WAS dead!"

The humanoid flame growls, eyes lighting up in fury.

"I speeded to my neighborhood to rescue my friends, but I was too late. Their homes... and themselves... You... you..." Manasa finds it difficult to say it all and clenches her fists tightly, a tear sliding down her face. "Only one of my friends survived -- the boy who was bullied. He was barely conscious as he was carried onto the stretcher. I ran to him and he was too shocked to speak. His mind was too boggled with trauma for me to be able to read it-- it was painful."

Manasa's anger suddenly shifts into an ironic smirk.

"But then, an elementary-aged boy whom I never met before in my life, came to the scene to check on him. I assumed my friend knew him, so I found it unusual that he would hang out with little kids like him. The boy grumbled 'Stupid adults never care for kids these days' under his breath before walking away sadly. Curious to know what he meant, I used my powers to figure out what. Turns out he was one of my friends' friends that you were after..."

DC Father's body slowly becomes ignited.

"Yes. My friends' friends were part of some worldwide organization known as... The Kids Next Door! Yes, _worldwide_; those kids you hate so much now aren't the only anti-adult children around."

Now he rises from his seat, all riled up. Now this is something he did _not_ know! Back then when he merely heard about them, he assumed those troublemakers simply disobeyed adults and deliberately skipped school or ran away from home. He had no idea they were part of an organization bent on _fighting_ against grown-ups.

"Of course, I did not have to follow the boy to his headquarters to know about the Kids Next Door, so I decided to escape from society, which had booted me out in the first place and possibly claimed that I was responsible for the accident, and I planned my revenge... against you."

"Why now?" the father asks.

"I kept myself out of sight to train my mental powers, and also to spy on you as well as any other Kids Next Door organizations I could find. Now, I have finally perfected the gift and know as much about you and the Kids Next Door as I possibly could. I have transformed from the weakling girl to the powerful woman that stands before you today."

"So, you're here for a little payback," says the demonic-like man, removing his smoke pipe. "One thing I still do not understand: Instead of torturing the Kids Next Door, why didn't you just bust into my lair and fight me when you first arrived, hmmm?"

Manasa smirks. "I thought it would be funny if you were to have the happiest moment of your life from hearing of the Kids Next Door's 'destruction,' only to have it end minutes later by whom you believed was 'just another ruffian.' "

"You were and still are just another ruffian, Manasa!" roars DC Father, becoming ablazed again. "And so were your friends, and so are those Kids Next Door! Them and their rebellion against adults! All children should obey their elders, respect their elders... They cannot have minds of their own under OUR control! It is up to us adults to convert them to our ways and have them pass the standards down to their own children; that's the way the world SHOULD be!

"But no, these... Kids Next Door are interfering! With standards and values of their own, and with their very own 'technology,' the world would possibly have a chance of changing its ways! I cannot have that happen; I WILL not let that happen! The way that the world should be... the way I want it to be should never disappear!"

"And that is why you consider the Kids Next Door a threat," Manasa observes, remembering a speech he made during his first battle with the agents.

"Exactly! To preserve the world as how I want it to be -- as how it always should be -- I must _completely_ destroy any Kids Next Door organization that arises."

"If you are so motivated to do that, why make your Delightful Children do all the work?"

"Why? Look at me!" he yells as he shows off his mutated body. "The world is not ready to face _this_ just yet. But it appears my children are constantly failing. They were truly becoming a disappointment to me... a very _big_ disappointment. But perhaps their hiring you to break up the Kids Next Door might redeem them."

"You will not be around long enough to get a chance to redeem them," the mind-powered woman says threateningly.

"Is that a challenge?"

"It's what I'm here for, isn't it?"

"Then it is about time that I accept. The time for talking is over."

DC Father slowly walks down the steps from his throne, gathering his hands together to form a large flame. His hazel eyes glare venemously down at the young woman below.

"I should have completely destroyed you when I had the chance, ruffian."

"Well, you didn't, and you will surely regret it. You are an insane man who wants to _kill _children that aren't how you want them to be, and you proved it so in the past. You do not deserve your life, you murderous scum!"

That was enough to totally fire up the evil villian. Hollering, he blasts rounds of fireballs at his opponent, but the woman skillfully dodges each shot. She takes this time to lunge at the man and she delivers a hard fist to his cheek, backing him off some feet away. She uppercuts him knocking him down on the steps, then stomps on him relentlessly. But DC Father recovers from the blows to the face and he successfully sends her away with another fireball.

DC Father quickly gets up and brings his two hands together to shoot a beam of flames. Manasa braces himself for the attack and the beam pins her to the wall, filling her with intense heat and pain, but she tries not to scream lest she'd draw satisfaction from her foe. Unable to move, she extends her hand to the direction of the easy chair. The chair rumbles moments before it breaks from the floor, under Manasa's control. She quickly flies the throne toward DC Father and it collides, knocking him back and letting go of his flame beam.

Now that she's no longer pinned, she smirks a bit and uses her mind powers to move the easy chair to wherever she pleases. In this case she uses it to pound on the flaming mutant mercilessly, making it difficult for him to counterattack or even dodge, much to Manasa's amusement. She almost laughs as her enemy tries desperately to get away from his own 'comfortable' seating object. Eventually, DC Father screams in irritation and finally blasts a large fireball to blow his chair into nothingness.

Manasa sees an opening and again lunges at him to deliver a punch/kick assault. But DC Father is also quick, and he does the same, locking them into a deadly round of fisticuffs and footicuffs (if there is such a word). Hard punches to the face and jaw, kicks to the gut, elbow shots to wherever; and all the while Manasa is smirking, further angering her long-awaited opponent. Growing tired of this round of hand-to-hand combat, he abruptly backs off and suddenly tosses a sphere of flame. The ball lands in front of Manasa's feet and it blasts into a minor explosion, though an explosion enough to send the woman sailing a few yards back, landing on her face -- beside the very pillar where she hid her 'special surprise.'

The troublemaker-hater grins a satisfied grin as he calmly steps toward her direction. Manasa grunts and opens one eye. She suddenly smirks and closes the eye again, remaining down on the floor as DC Father finally stands over her, sneering down at her and chuckling.

"You were a real disappointment, Manasa. I expected you to be more of a challenge. I'm almost sorry I have to end it now. Is there anything you would like to say before I do?"

"Y-Y-Yes. You w-w-were c-c-careless."

"Huh?"

Manasa suddenly reaches out, grabs one of the hidden objects, and immediately hops on her two feet, displaying to the villian her first surprise: A blaster gun with a container filled with vanilla ice cream attached to it! Before DC Father can react, Manasa pulls the trigger and ice-cold, vanilla-flavored cream gushes out.

"Too bad you all were out of strawberry; that's my favorite," she laughs.

DC Father cries out in extreme pain and suffering as his weakness overpowers him. He feels his fire powers and himself weaken, powering him down into a mere shadowish man. The ice cream blast eventually pins him to the floor on his back, and Manasa shoots the cream from torso to toe to immobilize him.

The gifted lady tosses the empty blaster away and stands over her immovable foe, placing one foot down on his chest, smirking at his chattering form.

"You were a real disappointment," mocks Manasa. "I expected you to be more of a challenge. However, I will not regret ending this now."

She extends one hand behind her and her second surprise comes from behind the pillar, floating over to her possession. It is a weapon that resembles a sword with a wooden hilt and a blade that has a bunch of cold desserts mixed together all over. She points it directly to his chest, determination evident in her eyes. DC Father tries to move away but to no avail.

"This 'sword' is going to be your undoing, scum. The desserts on it make the blade ice cold, just like your heart is despite your fiery body."

"Y-Y-Y-You... c-c-c-can't... d-d-d-do th-th-this!" the Delightful Children's Father chatters, more out of fear than coldness.

"Watch me."

Almost instantly after she says that, the Delightful Children From Down The Lane burst into the room, seemingly emotionless but actually suspicious, worried, and angry all at once.

"What is all the racke--" they begin before a terrified gasp escapes their mouths. "FATHER!!"

"My D-D-Delightful Ch-Ch-Ch-Children... H-H-Help m-me..." their 'Father' responds weakly.

Manasa glances at them from over her shoulder. 'I didn't want the children to see this,' she thinks to herself. 'But here is my chance, and I may never get another opportunity like this again. I might as well do this right now. Besides... it is for their own good.'

The DCFDTL tremble in fright but begin to run over to assist him, when Manasa uses her mental powers to cause the nearby pillars to rumble threateningly, forcing them to step back for fear of their own health.

"Stay back!" she tells them. "Please do not make me hurt you. My doing what I'm about to do now is for your benefit, trust me."

"W-W-What are you t-t-talking ab-b-bout...?" the weakened Father asks. The Delightful Children's expressions show they are wondering the same thing.

"I think you and I both know what I'm talking about," Manasa answers him. She then takes hold of her sword with both hands and raises it, aiming at her intended target.

"Your experiments and evil ways are over!" Manasa declares. "Begone forever, you monster!"

"NO! FATHER!" the Delightful Children cry as they begin to dash to his side, not even caring if some flying furniture strikes them. But they only reach halfway before Manasa hollers a battle cry...

...and brings the blade down.

The Delightful Children instantly freeze in their tracks, their jaws gaped in utter shock, dissolving their emotionless facial features, as they witness their Father lay there... motionless. Manasa breathes a heavy sigh and steps away from her fallen enemy.

"My friends, you may rest in peace at last," she whispers through closed eyes. She sighs one last time before turning around, coming face-to-face with the DCFDTL. Their expressions are the same; they haven't moved an inch. They just stand there, staring shocked. Their Father... gone? This can't be!

Manasa floats by the Delightful Children and looks at them intently. This is why she did not want them to see their 'Father's' destruction; she figured the shock would be too much for them. 'But they'll understand,' she tells herself. 'If they don't figure it out first, then I can always tell them.'

Hoping to snap them out of it she asks, "Weren't you planning on a victory party? Come, let's go."

The Children do not respond. Manasa shakes her head and exits, leaving them there in their lonesome.

* * * * *

Manasa closes the door behind her and floats down the stairs. Guilt strikes her heart, but she lets what she thinks are good intentions squash it.

"It's hard having to do that in front of them," she tells herself. "But I finally got my revenge and children are forever safe from that man. This is all for the better. Now I think I'll take my leave for the moment, and perhaps come back when I feel the Delightful Children have recovered. Maybe they'll realize why I did what I did and will still throw their little party. I'd certainly love some cake and ice cream."

Manasa smiles slightly, practically tasting buttercream-frosted cake and strawberry ice cream. She shakes her head in disbelief moments later, but still smiles. Despite being a young adult she still finds herself acting somewhat like a child. Perhaps from spying on Kids Next Door organizations for so long.

She halts her movement when the mansion's entrance door suddenly bursts wide open, and a small boy in sunglasses leaps into the main hall, dashing madly. Fortunately, Manasa tells him to halt and he does before they could collide.

"Excuse me, but I must speak with the Delightful Children!" says Numbuh One. "I have this suspicion that they are the cause of my comrades' abandoning the team!"

Manasa cocks an eyebrow; she expected Nigel to stay at the Treehouse moping. But it appears he is finally catching on. "Sorry, but the Delightful Children are... not available at the moment. You should come back later." With that she continues her walk towards the exit.

Numbuh One slightly lowers his shades and watches her. 'What is that woman doing in the Delightful Children's mansion?' he wonders in his mind. 'And why is her voice so familiar?'

Suddenly, Manasa stops just in front of the door and looks at the boy from over her shoulder. {"Would it have something to do with the 'mystery voice' you've been banging your head about, Mr. Uno?"}

Nigel Uno gasps and steps back from the force of surprise. She just read his mind! And that voice... that voice he's been hearing these past couple of days... It's...

"Hold it!" Numbuh One commands in his British accent, running up to Manasa who just stepped outside, the sun setting in the distance, shifting the near-cloudless skies from bright and blue to dark and orange. The woman stops and turns, looking down at the small boy, placing one hand on her hip.

"Yes?"

"It's you! You're the person who's been speaking to me in my mind! You're working for the Delightful Children From Down The Lane, aren't you!?" Nigel resists the urge to instantly lunge at her.

"I guess you can say that. Since my task is done, it is safe to tell you who I am. My name is Manasa, and I have the special ability to go into peoples' minds. The Delightful Children hired me to get you and your friends out of their way."

"And I suppose you had something to do with the others acting unlike themselves as well?"

"Yes, somewhat. But some things were from their own doing. I just helped them bring it out. Like Kuki's 'bad' side or Wallabee's once-hidden accusations against Hoagie."

'So Numbuh Four got his 'change of heart' from Manasa...'

"Correct," says Manasa after reading the thoughts of Numbuh One, who shudders. "I toyed with you and your friends' minds all week, eventually leading to the break up so the Delightful Children would fill in their part of the deal."

"... How could you..." Numbuh One grumbles.

"Well, for a little fun. But I had other reasons as well..."

"Fun? You think it was fun dissolving the Kids Next Door!?" the boy yells. His eyes ripple as angry tears begin to fall.

"Hey, I said a _little_ fun, I did not gain THAT much joy out of it."

"Still, you cost me the greatest friends I ever had!"

Ignoring his tear-stained cheeks, he produces his S.C.A.M.P.P. and aims his 2x4 Technology-created weapon directly at her.

Manasa simply smirks. "You know, Nigel, not everything was a trick of mine. There _was_ a traitor within your team."

"Really?" Numbuh One asks. Curiousity takes over and he lowers his weapon.

"Do you want to know who it is? You might be surprised."

"Yes, please, tell me! If he or she also caused all that trouble I'd want to confront that ratfink about it!"

"All right."

The red sweater boy gulps and braces himself, nervous sweat forming on his forehead. Finally, he is going to know who is the rat. Manasa kneels down to his level so that they're face-to-face with each other. She smirks a bit and tells him the answer he's been looking for these past days...

"... You, Nigel Uno."

"Me...?" he wonders, backing off and shaking his head in high doubt. "I... I don't understand."

Manasa stands back up. "Think about it, Nigel. You yourself thought that my voice coming out of nowhere was strange, but you went along with it anyway. I mean, really, some unknown voice popping up right after you severely defeated the Delightful Children!? That's quite a good reason for suspicion, is it not?"

"They, they _were_ suspicious to me!"

"But your suspicions against them were too late. You did _nothing_ to settle the air of mistrust. Thus, accusations against each other increased and eventually your friends abandoned the Kids Next Door. So, in a metaphorical sense, you are the 'traitor' who caused the destruction of your team; the loss of your friends."

Manasa doesn't even complete her speech before Nigel drops on his knees sobbing. He wants to deny it but he knows she's right. Now he sees why Manasa said that night not to trust his friends too much -- Because they might have retaliated against him if they figured that HE was the reason the Kids Next Door crumbled, _not_ because that one of them was a traitor. He himself was the one who thought someone was betraying the team. And that someone, in a sense, turned out to be him...

Manasa turns away, the feeling of guilt pounding her again. 'But as I said, it was for a good cause,' she persists. 'Besides, I have a feeling the loss of their friendship will not last for too long, and soon things will go back to normal for them.'

Manasa looks back intently at the boy. He's been silent for quite a while. She's weary from all the mind-reading today, but decides to check out what he could be thinking. When she finishes, she frowns, folding her arms across her chest.

"What?" says she. "You're still thinking of fighting me?"

"Yes, I am," he replies. "None of this still would not have happened if it wasn't for you."

The woman sighs. "Nigel, fighting me would be meaningless now. Besides, you are alone. How can one child take on a psychic?"

"Not one, but TWO!" comes a voice not owned by either of them.

Nigel and Manasa both whirl over to the direction of the shout. Before Manasa can do anything multiple cartons of orange juice bomb her, spilling the nutritious drink all over her from head to toe. Manasa whines loudly, her hair and dress soaked, and tries to wipe the juice off with little effectiveness. Meanwhile, a round boy in a fly suit picks up Numbuh One, carrying him by a large tree some distance away from the distracted lady, and sets him down.

Numbuh One blinks-- everything happened so fast. But when he finally gets a good look at his rescuer, he smiles broadly and almost leaps in joy.

"N-Numbuh Two!?"

"Hey there," the chubby boy smiles, setting down his weapon: A large mailbox firearm used to shoot orange juice cartons. The ammunition is empty; most likely the ones he used earlier was the last of it, but he has a gumball shooter (the gun literally looks like those gumball machines at grocery stores, except with a handle and trigger) for backup.

"Numbuh Two, you're here! But... what are you doing here? I thought you quit the Kids Next Door?"

"Yeah, well..." Numbuh Two smiles sheepishly. "I felt kinda bad for getting all mad and walking out on you guys, so I came back to headquarters only to find nobody home. So I strapped on my flying apparatus to search for you all."

[A/N: The "flying apparatus" was the suit Numbuh Two wore in THE-FLY and GROW-UP.]

He looks around and blinks.

"Where ARE the others anyway? Were they captured?" he asks worriedly.

"No," Numbuh One answers solemnly, "they all quit shortly after you left."

Hoagie's face falters. "What? Aw, man... Then it looks like we're on our own."

"No yer not, chubby!"

A short, blonde Australian-accented boy lunges at the chubby pilot before he could even get a chance to move.

"Numbuh Four!" Numbuh One exclaims in relief.

"Numbuh Four..." Numbuh Two says, not sure whether to be relieved or worried for his own safety.

Numbuh Four grits his teeth and grabs the downed boy's blue shirt. "Awright, spill it! You were working with the Delightful Children all along, you traitor!"

"No!" the boy shakes his head quickly.

"Don't deny it! I saw you flying here. Come to get your reward from 'em, eh?"

"I came here because I wanted to apologize to you guys for leaving like that! Really, it's the truth!"

"It's true, Numbuh Four," says One calmly. "The person you should be getting angry at is her."

One points to Manasa's direction, who is still whining about the orange juice splattered all over her. Four looks at her intently, cocking an eyebrow hidden under her blonde bangs when the sound of her voice enters his head.

"Y'know... Her voice DOES sound familiar," Four comments. "Aw... crud! It's the same lady voice I heard last night! She musta been the one who..." He finally loosens his grip on Two, steps off and looks at him sheepishly. "Numbuh Two, I... I'm, uh, ummm..."

"It's okay, Numbuh Four," smiles Numbuh Two. "I mean, hey, I would've thought I was the traitor, too. Hee hee hee."

Numbuh Four smiles in return, then turns serious again as he faces Numbuh One. "So, mate, how was that lady doing all that?"

"Manasa has this ability to read peoples' thoughts. She was the one who made me think that one of you was a traitor."

"Read peoples' thoughts? Man, that's bloody creepy!"

"Could that mean that the message I saw on the computer was possibly some kind of mind illusion thingy set by Manasa?" asks Two.

The leader nods.

"So you _weren't_ making fun of me after all. I'm so sorry for accusing you!"

"It's okay, Numbuh Two, don't worry about it."

"... Man, now that sounds in'tresting to Numbuh Five."

The leaves of the tree rustle and out leaps the third-person speaker, landing in front of the boys gracefully. The girl in the red cap's unexpected entrance was enough to make Numbuh Two almost shriek like a girl.

"Numbuh Five! I didn't even know you were up there," Numbuh One exclaims, though is happy to see her. The faces of Two and Four show that they feel the same way as he does.

"I ain't the stealth operative for nothin'," Numbuh Five says proudly.

"How did you know we were here?" asks One.

"I didn't. I was about to bust into da mansion to see if the Delightful dorks had somethin' to do with ya bein' weird, when I saw you an' that lady come out. I hid in this tree ta see what was goin' on."

"Hey, I came here because of my suspicions against the Delightful Children, too!"

"I guess great minds think alike. Though mines is greater an' you know it," smirks Five.

One smiles; it feels like ages since hearing her smart-alecky mouth.

"So, that Manasa lady was the reason y'all were actin' crazy?" Numbuh Five asks, staring at Numbuh Four in particular.

"Yeah," the Aussie boy answers, knowing she was talking to him more than the others. "Sorry 'bout intrudin' ya, but I toldja I didn't do it on purpose."

"Yeah, well, sorry about that," says the girl, scratching the back of her head from under her cap. "I guess Numbuh Five shoulda listened to your side of the story."

Numbuh One sighs sadly. "I wish Numbuh Three was here to see us making up."

* * * * *

Meanwhile a raven-haired Asian girl walks down the streets, her happy-go-lucky disposition broken earlier today. Still saddened by the chain of events at headquarters, she mopes around the suburban neighborhood, having nothing to do and nobody to play with.

Eventually she comes across the Delightful Children's mansion. She ignores the large household until she hears familiar voices and one unknown voice coming from the front yard. 'Hmm'ing, Numbuh Three decides to investigate and she peers through the large gate.

There she sees a wet-looking young woman who seems to be complaining about something. Destroyed cartons of orange juice are closeby. She looks to the side to see... the rest of the Kids Next Door, appearing to be talking about something.

"Oooo, they must be having a party!" she gasps, leaping up and down gleefully. But she freezes when she realizes... "I wasn't invited! Oo, that makes me so mad!"

With that she climbs up the gate with great speed and agility, jumping over it with skill, then immediately dashes towards the others, completely ignoring the woman.

"Hey! How come you didn't invite me to the party!?" Numbuh Three whines.

The four other Kids turn to see the remaining member of their team running towards them. Numbuh One opens his mouth to say that he's glad to see her, but Three gets into his face before he can.

"I said, why didn't you invite me to the party!?" she repeats.

"Huh? This isn't a party, Numbuh Three," blinks One.

"Yes it is! See that lady? She was drinking orange juice or something and there were lots of it, so you must have food 'n' drinks somewhere!"

"It ain't no party," Four tells her, "Two here saved Numbuh One before that Manshasha lady could pound him!"

"Yeah, _Manasa_ was behind everything!" Five adds, at the same time correcting Numbuh Four.

"If you don't believe us listen to her voice," One comments, turning Numbuh Three's head to Manasa's direction.

Numbuh Three does as told. Manasa is still yelling about her ruined hair and dress and something about prefering tropical punch. Her voice... She _has_ heard it somewhere before.

"Oh, no!" gasps Numbuh Three. "You mean my teddy bear was a lady all along and she tricked me!?"

Numbuh One resists a snicker. "No, no, Numbuh Three. Manasa used her mind powers to make you _think_ your teddy bear was talking to you."

"Oh. Well, I was close!" Numbuh Three declares, crossing her oversleeved arms. Another realization hits her and she bows her head in shame, digging the ground with one foot. "Oh... That means I called you names and beat you with a pillow for nothing. I'm sooooo sorry, Numbuh One!"

"Don't worry about it, Numbuh Three," he replies, though frowns a little when Numbuh Five snickers.

"We're all sorry," Two adds solemnly. "Manasa made all of us act the way we did."

"Well... it wasn't 100 percent her fault." All eyes fall on the leader. "Guys, I was the 'traitor' she was talking about."

The others gasp but he waves away any questions that were going to escape their lips.

"No, not literally. It was because of me that everything happened this way. I let Manasa manipulate me like a puppet. And because of that, I almost destroyed the Kids Next Door... and its friendship." Now it's Numbuh One's turn to bow his head in shame.

"Hey hey, Numbuh One, you were just bein' a leader like you were supposed to," Numbuh Five says seriously.

"Yeah, please don't be mad at yourself," Numbuh Three adds.

"Dat's right. The person ya should be getting mad at is her, remember?" smirks Numbuh Four, pointing a thumb over his shoulder at Manasa.

Numbuh One takes the time to let their words sink in as Numbuh Two pats his shoulder consolingly. These friends are so great. Even when times are tough, especially when he feels it is because of his leadership, they are always there for him.

Numbuh One lifts his head up and removes his trademark accessory, eyeing each of them with a small smile. He cannot believe he almost lost the four best friends anyone can ever have. Sure, he sometimes gets annoyed a little with Numbuh Two's scaredyness or Numbuh Three's playfulness or Numbuh Four's hard-headedness or Numbuh Five's smart-aleckyness. But, hey, nobody's perfect, and he certainly has re-learned that lesson today.

"Thanks... my friends," he says. "Let's try not to break up ever again."

"You got it!" says Numbuh Two with a thumbs up.

"Yay, we're friends again!" squeals Numbuh Three joyfully.

"Hey, no way I'm leaving my buddies again," says Numbuh Four.

"Unless Numbuh Five whoops your behind like last time?" smirks Numbuh Five, playfully ruffling up his mop head.

Four smirks at her. "I hafta admit, you were pretty good. But you caught me off-guard last time. Next time you won't be so lucky."

"Is that a challenge to Numbuh Five?" she smirks.

"You betcher arse it is!"

"Numbuh Five accepts yer challenge! When we get home it'll be you an' me, a one-on-one rematch in your wrestlin' ring!"

Numbuh Four and Numbuh Five seal the deal with a handshake, smiling that 'May the best man/woman win!' kind of smile.

"GROUP HUG!" the Asian girl announces.

The others seem a bit reluctant, particularly Numbuh Four, but they shrug and do as Numbuh Three suggests, moving themselves into perhaps the sappiest moment of their lives.

Unfortunately, their heartfelt moment is cut short.

"A-AHEM! Have you _completely_ forgotten about me!?"

The team break away to find a rather miffed Manasa staring down at them. She isn't as soaked as before, but that's not keeping her from being unhappy for that unexpected juice assault.

"Listen, it's good you all are back together and all but really, did you _have_ to splash orange juice all over me? Look at me! Look at my hair, look at my dress!"

"Aw shut up, psycho lady!" Numbuh Four grumbles through gritted teeth.

"That's _psychic_!"

"Same thing."

"Manasa," Numbuh One says, rearming his S.C.A.M.P.P., "it is time that we, the Kids Next Door, kick your butt!"

"But how can we beat her!?" Two panics. "She's a psychic for crying out loud!"

"We're just gonna hafta try," says Five, tightening her red cap and cracking her knuckles and producing a 2x4 Technologic blaster of some sort, the same one she used in the episode C.H.A.D.

"You still wish to fight me? Then so be it. I think I might enjoy this. Unlike a certain someone, I am confident you will not disappoint me."

"'A certain someone'? Who?" the commander asks curiously.

"I'll tell you later, if you don't find out first somehow." She pauses for a moment and then smirks at Numbuh One. "I believe this is where you call out your favorite line."

Numbuh One smirks back. "Exactly. Kids Next Door... BATTLESTATIONS!"

* * * * *

TO BE CONTINUED...


	5. Chapter Five

Now reloading: Kids Next Door mission...

Operation: M.I.N.D., Chapter Five

Writing Operative: Vtbots

--------------------

"Heeeyaaaaaaaa!" cries Numbuh Four, the first Kid to attack the psychic lady.

But Manasa shakes her head. "I don't have to read your mind to see how predictable you would be," she says as she uses her mental powers to bind the blonde boy in mid-air. Four struggles to free himself from the trap but Manasa utilizes the power of telekinesis to javelin the victim right into a tree facefirst! He sinks down, mumbling "Ow" and rubbing his poor face.

The four remaining Kids clearly see that this will be a very challenging battle indeed. But, determined to get some payback for everything Manasa had done the past couple days, they yell out their kiddy war cries and Numbuhs One, Two, and Five train their weapons on the woman. Manasa successfully dodges the mini-rays from One's and Five's blasters, but when Two shoots rounds of gumballs she finds her dress even more ruined than before when the gumballs explode into, well, gum.

"Ahhh!" Manasa whines, trying to get the sticky substance off of her.

"Ooohh, gum!" Numbuh Three exclaims gleefully as she leaps in front of the adult to have a taste of the sweets herself, picking the stuff off of Manasa, not knowing she is helping Manasa out of her little dilemma.

The recovering Numbuh Four takes advantage of Manasa's momentary pause in combat, dashes, plays a little game of "leap frog" on Three, and delivers a hard knuckle right into the woman's cheek, sending her almost a whole yard back.

"Awww, it tasted so good!" Three complains, but Four ignores her as he grabs her out of the way so that the others can open fire on her.

Manasa finds herself being pummelled by light rays about as stinging as a hot soup, light rays about as cool as a soda, and non-explosive gumballs about as hard as... gumballs. She has to do something; it's hard to make a move this way, even _with_ her psychic powers. What can she do that will stop or at least alleviate this assault...

"Hey Nigel, is that Lizzie over there!?" shouts the young woman.

"Lizzie??" Numbuh One ceasefires and whirls around, scanning the vicinity for his red-braided "girlfriend." Numbuhs Two and Five soon stop shooting their own firearms, telling him that they don't see Lizzie anywhere.

But they realize Manasa's trick too late-- Their weapons are stripped from their hands as if by a magnetic force, and they fall into Manasa's own. Numbuhs One, Two, and Five glare at her, gritting their teeth in equal frustration.

Manasa smiles a little and tosses them away. "Two-by-Four Technology, using everyday items and molding them into technologic equipment that rival real hi-tech equipment. I've always found your technology interesting. But I'm afraid it might not save you this time."

Numbuhs Three and Four run to the others' side, each one of them unarmed. They see themselves in a rather unpleasant predicament.

"Listen, Kids, I have more important things to do and to think about right now. I really did not want to do battle with you, but you forced me into it. All this just because I wanted to have a little fun as well as have the opportunity to do what I wanted to do in there for so long?" Manasa says, motioning to the Delightful Children's mansion.

"There is nothing funny about nearly destroying a team's friendship," says Numbuh One, his brow furrowing dangerously.

"Maybe not, but I saw how strong your friendship was and knew you all would get back together. All's well that ends well, right?"

"I still have some questions for ya," says Five. "Who is this someone you were talkin' 'bout earlier, and _what_ kind of deal didja have wit' the Delightful chumps anyway?"

Manasa looks at her, then hovers high enough off the ground that she towers over the small children below her, staring down at them as the little people they are.

"I'll tell you when we're done," she replies. "Now, let us continue!"

Manasa hugs her sides and begins spinning... and spinning... and spinning... and spinning....

"I think I'm gonna be sick..." groans Numbuh Four, whose face begins to turn green as his bang-covered eyes follow the rapid woman-twister.

Then the young lady suddenly speeds toward the group in a velocity so great that there is no time to scatter. As their mouths hang open, only one thing can be said from the mouth of Numbuh Two:

"This is gonna hurt, isn't it?"

No sooner does he say that than Manasa collides with the team. The force of her body and the manipulated air not only deals quite unsettling pain to the Kids but it also scatters them, though not in the way they would have wanted had they had the time. Numbuhs One, Three, and Five find themselves landing on some rosebushes -- the ones with the prickly thorns. Numbuhs Two and Four end up face-to-hurting-face with the hard wall of the mansion, slithering down half-conscious.

Manasa smiles proudly. She feels so lucky that her mental powers enables her to defy gravity and fly, albeit at a limited height. Even so, that had to be the best move she invented, but she figures the Kids will not think so. They are probably thinking more about kissing their boo-boos than anything at the moment. In fact, Numbuh Three is literally kissing her little boo-boos and picking the thorns out of her sweater, moaning and groaning and making all sorts of whiny sounds that only a person with a voice as high as hers can make.

Four isn't too happy about Manasa's flight ability. Not bothering to try the stop the world from spinning around him, the Aussie immediately jumps to his feet, shaking his fists directly at the woman.

"C'mon, stop cheatin' an' come down 'ere!"

His foe smirks and descends onto the yard. Snarling viciously, the mop-headed blonde charges at his adversary and, despite the comparison between his and Manasa's height, attempts to unleash barrages of fist-thrusting and foot-launching in a berserker rage, though he has to leap up and down to strike his intended targets.

Since Wallabee is fighting with his quick (and sometimes careless) hand-to-hand combat instincts more than with rational thinking, it is more difficult for the psychic to read his thoughts... She must rely on her nimbleness to dodge his annoying attacks until she detects the right moment.

Suddenly, Wallabee slacks for just one moment to deliver what appears to be a mighty uppercut. Perfect. Manasa grins as suddenly Four freezes in a stasis. His face falters into a "Not again!" expression as he finds himself hovering to Manasa's eye level.

"So predictable you are..."

With that, the four other Kids, just recovering from their stupor, witness with widened eyes Manasa's counterattack against her victim. She gives the top of his head an unwelcome greeting with her elbow, delivers a knee blow to the household of digestion known as his stomach, and finally introduces the heel of her foot to his face, rocketing him far away and forcing him to say hello to the tree once again. He slumps to the ground facefirst, groaning and favoring his head.

As the Kids sprint to check on him, the capped girl suddenly clenches her fists and glares directly at the woman.

"Hey, I want him at a hundred percent for our rematch, lady!" she yells.

"He should have thought about that before trying to strike my pretty face. Such a predictable little boy he is; I don't even have to read his mind to know how he would fight!"

"Is that right?" One asks.

"Yes."

The leader ponders this with a rub under his chin.

"So now what?" asks Manasa. "Still want to fight me? We could go all night if you want." She eyes the sky as the sun gradually descends, transforming the sky into dark and purplely, stars making their presence known and the crescent moon shining above. "It's evening time already," the woman comments. "Time flies when you're having fun, huh?"

"But we're not having any fun!" Three says with a frown and closed eyes.

"Yeah, she's beating us left and right!" Two adds. "And that's not right!"

"C'mon y'all, there has to be _someway_ we can take her down," Five encourages.

"That's right, and that's by teaming on her at once!" yells Four. "LET'S GET 'ER!"

"No, wait!" One shouts, but his comrades have already started charging toward their opponent.

The four decide to use team attacks, so the Aussie fighter wields the chubby pilot like a lance and uses him like a battering ram of some sort. But Manasa dodges and utilizes her mental powers to shove their faces on the rather uncomfortable ground.

Then the stealth girl and the diversionary tactics expert display rather skillful aerobic moves -- though Numbuh Three thinks it's dancing, and she appears to be enjoying it jubilantly -- and attempt to deliver a mighty jump kick, synchronized-style.

Unfortunately, Manasa already read what Numbuh Five planned, and so knows just the right moment to evade the manuever. When she does, the startled girl duo put on the brakes, but too late: Manasa unleashes a roundhouse kick knocking both of them out of her face and in front of a worried yet frustrated Numero Uno. Then she goes over to the Australian-accented child and picks him up by the legs with one hand. Then she carries the mechanic with her free hand and throws him up in the air. Snickering, she uses Numbuh Four like a _baseball bat_ and strikes Numbuh Two, who then joins the pile of the downed girls! Then, still carrying him like a bat, she swings Numbuh Four round and around and simply tosses him to the Kids. Collective "OOOoofff!"s soon follow.

"You're out!" laughs Manasa.

Numbuh One simply stands over his comrades, arms folded, drumming his fingers. Frustrated eyes are hidden under his sunglasses.

"Man," groans Numbuh Two, "it's no use. Her mind power thingy lets her anticipate our moves!"

"That's what I tried to warn you about," says the leader sternly. "_Now_ will you settle down and listen?"

They nod slowly.

"Good. I want to speak with each of you individually. Numbuh Two, you're first. Come along."

The confused Kids blink, but the pilot shrugs and lets Numbuh One take him out of earshot of the others.

'I wonder what they are doing?' thinks Manasa. 'I guess I could read their minds and see, but I'd rather find out for myself. Who knows, it might be a lot of fun...'

"... now DO NOT tell the others what I told you, got it?"

"Errr, sure thing Numbuh One...(?)" says Two softly before he rejoins the team. 'Why is Numbuh One telling me to do that?' he wonders. 'He wouldn't tell me why, either. Oh well, it's his orders so I should obey them. But I hope I won't end up getting my face mashed into the ground like last time; that hurt!'

The commander then orders another member to speak with him alone. Like Numbuh One, he tells his comrade what to do, gives them the same stern warning he gave Numbuh Two, and then dismisses that person, confusing them but accepting his orders anyway. Then he calls the next member, and so on...

* * * * *

Minutes later, each Kid below the number one ask each other what their leader was talking about, but, as part of Numbuh One's orders, none of them would say. Numbuh One sushes them and steps in front of the group with his arms folded behind him.

"Okay, Manasa, we're ready!" he announces.

"All right. Let's see what you have cooked up!"

The commander motions for the mechanic to go, and the chubby youngster reluctantly does. He charges towards the woman, who readies herself to give him yet another beatdown. However, when he reaches halfway, he suddenly stops and pretends to fly around like an airplane.

"Brrrooooommmm! Swooooshhhhhhhh!" The pilot makes all kinds of sound effects as he "flies" around the battlefield, totally bewildering the Kids Next Door (except Numbuh One) and Manasa alike.

"What... is he doing?" wonders Manasa out loud.

Numbuh Two stops in front of her and 'salutes.' "Ready for take-off, capt'n!"

"What?" Manasa is still confused.

'That's my cue...' thinks Numbuh Five as she uses this distraction to sprint from the battlefield to retrieve their weapons. She tosses each of them to their respective owner (except Numbuh Two, who's busy at the moment) and then immediately open fires on the unsuspecting psychic before she could attempt to read Two's mind!

"Grrgaahh!?" she grunts as the dark girl lets out a battle cry and dashes closer to her target, blasting her soda-cold lasers like a madgirl.

Five then abruptly stops firing and lowers the weapon, smirking. Manasa frowns and looks into her thoughts. But all she can read is what the dark girl did earlier -- fire like mad.

"Is that all you're going to do?" asks Manasa, trying to fix her ruffled-up strawberry-red hair.

"Nah, there's still one more thing Numbuh Five hasta do." She takes a deep breath, sticks her thumbs into her ears, and raspberries. Giggling, she runs away, leaving Manasa confused but angry.

"Hey, come back he--OOMPH!"

The woman feels a sharp pain when Numbuh Two suddenly rams her like a bull. She lands harshly on her behind, feeling her struck side and glaring at the boy.

Two stands triumphantly -- He was told to strike Manasa the moment he sees Five raspberry and run away, and it worked! He wonders if this is all to Numbuh One's plan, but decides not to do anymore for fear of massive retaliation, and flees temporarily. Manasa stands and makes a decision to focus on the others before setting his sights on the round one.

"Your turn, Numbuh Four. You know what you have to do," the leader commands.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." grumbles the Aussie. For some reason he seems very reluctant to carry out this order. He takes a deep breath, yells a war cry, and dashes toward his target with raised fists.

Manasa simply shakes her head, rolling her eyes. "Here we go again," she whispers to herself. "This one definently is the easiest member so far. Oh well, time to give him, what is this, his third beatdown?"

But Manasa is in for a surprise. As Numbuh Two did before, Four stops halfway. This time he bears a rather goofy grin on his face. He outstretches his arms and dances to quite a familiar tune:

"I'm a little teapot, short 'n' stout! Here is my handle, here is my spout...!"

Once again, the Kids (besides Numbuh One) and Manasa are stunned. Some of the Kids resist snickering. Numbuh Four singing and dancing to "I'm a Little Teapot"?? If only they had a camera!

Manasa doesn't know what to do. She cannot decide whether to laugh or to attack. She blinks and turns around as the still singing Numbuh Four dances around her. Her back is facing the other Kids.

"Okay, Numbuh Three, Numbuh Four is singing and Manasa's back is turned. That's your cue."

"Alrighty, Numbuh One!" says she, a gleeful smile on her face. She quietly skips toward the distracted woman until she's right in front of her. She looks down at the lady's legs intently before she uses a leg sweep move. Manasa abruptly finds herself on her back, blinking in surprise. Meanwhile Numbuh Four finally stops singing, letting his throat take a break.

'What hit me?' Manasa wonders. Her question is answered when the Asian girl stands over her, joyfully smiling with her eyes closed as they are most of the time.

"Are you really a psycho?" asks Three innocently.

"PSYCHIC!" yells Manasa. "Now let's see what you're planning!" With that she reads Numbuh Three's thoughts. Hmm, leg-sweep Manasa when Numbuh Four starts singing... And that's it. That's it!? Other than an admiration of the beautiful moon in the evening sky, that is all Numbuh Three has in mind that is worth reading.

The psychic jumps to her feet, her frustrations boiling over. "What is going on with you all!?" she exclaims. "You're not fighting like you usually--"

Her sentence is cut short when Numbuh Four spears her legs, once again knocking her down backfirst. Four immediately leaps up and, with his knees forward, crashes right into the midsection of Manasa, who yelps from the blow.

"That move o' yers hurt a lot!" growls Four, who hops off and moves away, personally enjoying Manasa hurting from a similar deed she done unto him.

The foe shakily stands on her two feet, eyeing each of the Kids curiously and angrily at once. Once again Nigel is discussing something with each Kid Next Door individually. She contemplates for a moment. What is up with them? Why are they behaving this way? How is it that they are able to attack her so well?

Before she can think further into this situation, Nigel Uno begins shooting his soup can phlazer weapon into the air, creating a pretty lightshow in the sky. Manasa stares upward, wondering if the soup can-hot lasers were meant to come crashing back down on her.

Something hits her all right; lasers as cold as soda directly to her chest shot by the stealthy girl, who is some distance away from the team. Manasa cries out and shields herself with one arm and, facing the girl, attempts to telekinetically take away Numbuh Five's weapon. But not one second passes before her concentration is ruined when a sneaker is caved into her cheek, knocking her down to the ground.

Numbuh Four stands over her, snarling like an animal, and ready to pound her. Manasa, demanding an explanation for the Kids' behavior, looks into his thoughts for a moment. But the only thing she gets from it is the attack he unleashed just a moment ago. And something else strange...

Numbuh Four bears a goofy smile once again and widens his eyes as he stares at the moon, cupping his hands together. "Ooohhh, lookit the pretty moooonnnn!" he says in a rather girly tone.

Manasa shakes her head in disbelief. She can tell that in reality he did not want to do that, but he did anyway. Why? What in the world is going on? Why is it so much harder to lay a finger on them all of a sudden!? It's like whenever somebody acts strangely...

"Hey Numbuh Four, want some gum?" calls the pilot of the team.

Numbuh Four, dropping his act, blinks at him and wonders why he would chew gum at a time like this. It only takes a moment before he sees just what _kind_ of gum Two has in possession. He grins and gives him an "OK" sign.

Numbuh Two smiles and fires a gumball from his shooter. But instead of catching the gum with his mouth, Four moves out of the way and the gum misses him completely. Too bad the same can not be said for Manasa.

"Ahhhh!" the woman hollers as she picks the exploded gum off of her face. Four faces her and simply smiles.

"Oops, sorry," he says unsincerely before running away.

Numbuh One signals to Numbuh Three to carry out her next act and she nods, skipping towards the woman, who is still on the ground. The Asian girl offers her oversleeved hand to her. Manasa blinks but smirks slightly. 'Ha, it's just like her,' she thinks. 'The moment she helps me up, POW, I'll get her right square in the jaw!'

Manasa extends her hand and Three takes it. It is only when Manasa is halfway up when suspicion arises. But Manasa doesn't get a chance to act on it when, the very instant Manasa is on her feet, the jubilant girl frowns and delivers an un-sleeved fist to the stomach! The woman doubles over, unwise choice when it comes to the acrobatic Numbuh Three, who immediately does a somersault to the psychic's face, forcing her a yard or two away and on her behind.

Numbuh Three then replaces the frown with a smile of glee and she says, innocently, "You should learn how to dance better. You could get hurt." Then, humming, she skips away.

Manasa stares at the Kids. 'What is happening?' she asks herself. 'Why am I being beaten by them? It seems first they make out like they're going to attack, then they do something strange or uncharacteristic, and then I'm suddenly attacked by either the same person or another Kid. And reading their minds has been no help at all, because the only thing I keep getting out of there is either weird act they put on, or the attack they just used on me.

'It's almost like a pattern. First they charge for a fake attack, then they surprise with an unusual or uncharacteristic act, and last, BOOM, I'm attacked! Charge, surprise, boom. Charge, surprise, boom. Charge, surprise, boom! And Numbuh One doesn't do a thing. WHAT IS GOING ON!?'

And so this apparent pattern continues. First Numbuh One discusses something with each of his comrades individually, then one or more members charge, stop to do something weird, and lastly Manasa is attacked from her blind spot by another member or two. When Numbuhs Two through Five do their thing, Numbuh One once again speaks with each of them alone, again giving them a stern warning not to tell the others. And then the attack continues.

And this cycle goes on and on for the duration of the battle. First it's talk, then there's charge, then the surprise, and finally the BOOM, unexpected attack. Talk, charge, surprise, BOOM. Talk, charge, surprise, BOOM. Talk, charge, surprise, BOOM! Talk, charge, surprise, BOOM! _Talk, charge, surprise, BOOM! Talk, charge, surprise, BOOM! TALK, CHARGE, SURPRISE, BOOM! TALK, CHARGE, SURPRISE, BOOM!!_

Manasa is on the verge of tears. This pattern is like an old song that one gets tired of putting up with over and over and over and over! And she can not do a thing about it. She hardly gets a chance to make a move anymore. She finds herself guarding the entire time as the onslaught goes on and on. Until finally...

...she collapses on her knees, battered, tuckered out, and just plain wanting it all to end.

Her wish is granted when Numbuh One orders his team to stop. He marches towards her and the others follow suit. One folds his arms behind his back and looks directly at her. Manasa's redhair is a serious mess that would take all night to fix. Her clothes are all wrinkly and torn in some places. And Numbuh One could swear he saw a slight hint of fear in her dark eyes. To sum it up, she looks worse for wear.

Manasa scoots away from the Kids, as if expecting another surprise attack. She is much too weary to read any of their minds now. She was already tired from the mind-reading she did earlier today; now it seems she's all out of psychic juice. Both mentally and physically tired, she discovers that she is powerless...

The woman can only shake her head. She wants to yell at them, swear at them, anything to vent out her anger and frustrations. But she thinks better of that and decides to ask them something she has been dying to know:

"How? How are you doing this? I had you in my clutches, but suddenly you turned the tables on me. How?"

A slight moment of silence. Numbuh One looks around him. He sees that the other Kids want to know the true extent to One's plan as well. Even if his plan was successful, it would be nice to know _how_ they did it exactly. Then, clearing his throat and fixing his sunglasses, Numbuh One speaks up, taking a step forward.

"You want to know how?" he asks. "I'll tell you how. I noticed a few things about you. First, it seems you are unable to read the minds of more than one person without straining yourself. Second, you claimed that you had no need to read our minds because we were so predictable. And third, while reading someone's mind your awareness of your surroundings is slightly reduced, but even a slight reduction can be dangerous. I took these three points into consideration and formulated a risky, but successful, plan.

"I'm sure you guys are wondering why I spoke with each of you alone to do something that would be considered weird, why I told you not to tell the others what you're going to do, and why I stayed in the sidelines?" he asks, looking at them from over his shoulder.

His comrades nod.

"Well," he continues, turning back to Manasa but still speaking to his friends, "it should be obvious. If I told you why I ordered you to do those things, that would have put the plan in jeopardy. Manasa could have read your mind and found out what I intended to do. The same would go if I let you blab it to the others.

"You see, Manasa, it goes like this. I order one operative to do something strange, then order the next member to attack you when they see the previous operative do that thing. Then I command _that_ member to do something strange... And so on. I am confident you are aware of the results."

"... One of you does something distracting, then another person surprise attacks me on cue, then he or she does something unusual so that another person can attack me," Manasa replies.

"Yes, and when all Numbuhs are done, I quickly speak with each of them alone again while you're down."

"And the vicious cycle continues..." she frowns.

"Correct," nods Numbuh One.

The ingenious plan of their commander begins to dawn on the Kids, and they stare at him in amazement.

Only Numbuh Five is able to speak up. "I get it now, leada-man! You stayed out of the fight 'cause Manasa would've read your mind and known what you were tryin' to do."

The leader nods.

"... Wow!" Two comments.

"I must admit, it was quite amusing watching my comrades pound you into oblivion," says One with an ironic smirk. "And there was not a thing you were able to do about it -- My friends beat you in all directions before you could even _try_ that game of yours. As long as we keep that pattern up, you wouldn't be able to lay a hand on us. 'We could go all night if you want,' as you said before."

"No..." Manasa shakes her head.

But Numbuh One continues the torture. "We were virtually unpredictable and you were virtually helpless. We toyed with your mind, Manasa; we beat you at your own game. Manasa... you lose."

The woman hugs her sides, trembling. Droplets of saltwater leak out of her eyes; even shutting them wouldn't stop them from flowing.

She just cannot believe it. A powerful psychic like her... has been defeated! And by whom? Why, by a quintet of little children! And as if that wasn't bad enough, they used her own tricks of the mind against her! She hates to admit it, but she knows Nigel Uno is right. They definently have toyed with her head... just like she toyed with theirs.

The Kids Next Door stare at her silently. It is strange to see whom they thought was a big meanie, cry like this. Sympathy grows in their hearts, even Numbuh Four's.

But their sympathy turns to bewilderment when Manasa suddenly begins to laugh. First quietly, then loudly. She stands on her two feet, wiping away her tears with her arms. The Kids' expressions just scream out "She _has_ gone psycho!"

"Ha ha ha, very clever; very, very clever," Manasa compliments, clapping her hands in approval. "You got me, Nigel Uno. I'm very reluctant to admit it, but you win. Congratulations. And, as promised, I will tell you why I made a deal with the Delightful Children.

"You see, kids, I came here for revenge."

"Revenge?" the Kids ask.

"Yes, revenge. Against THAT man!" Manasa angrily shouts, motioning towards the mansion.

"You mean the Delightful Children's daddy?" Numbuh Three inquires.

"Yes, Kuki. When I was in middle school, I gained my powers because of an 'accident' from his experiments. My life went down to tiolet when the whole town found out about my psychic ability. Then, one day, one horrific day... He... severely injured one of my friends... and killed the rest."

"WHAT!?" the Kids exclaim.

"How could he do something so horrible!?" Two demands.

"Because he thought that my friends were associated with the 'trouble-making' _their_ friends were causing. He was actually after my friends' friends, who, unknown to him that time, were actually Kids Next Door operatives..." the team of Kids' eyes broaden but Manasa goes on, "but he destroyed my friends during his search.

"I wanted to get back at him for murdering the people I loved! So I spent all my years till now to train my powers so I could seek retribution! But I wanted to beat him at the perfect moment to satisfy my revenge even more. That's why I purposely caused your break-up; so that when the Delightful Children's 'Father' is jumping for joy, WHAM!"

"I see..." says Numbuh One, fixing his shades.

"But before the match, I discovered something to my horror. It appears that over the years he had bigger plans in mind. He planned to... wipe out every single child that is rebellious against authority!"

The Kids gasp.

"His master plan was set on a world where children have no minds of their own, no emotions. A world where adults control children like animals and the children carry out every single order without a second thought, much like a robot. And then the children would pass down these so-called 'standards' to their own children, and his precious cycle of life would continue. He planned to kill any child, even a little kid, who does not go by his standards. That includes you Kids Next Door... or even a normal child. And he was going to enjoy every moment of his murdering spree."

"That... that... monster," Numbuh Five says solemnly, though was actually thinking of a word much worse than monster.

"Man, that is majorly uncool," says Numbuh Four in the same solemn tone.

But Manasa's last sentence dawns on Numbuh One. "Wait a minute, did you say _was_? You keep speaking about him in the past tense....."

The Kids Next Door's curious expressions tell her that she might as well let it out. They would have found out sooner or later anyway.

"Well, I certainly did not agree with his plans. Even though I am an adult myself, I knew that someone with a mind like his _had_ to be stopped. It was not all about revenge anymore. It was about saving the world's children. I felt he did not deserve to be... around. So... I..."

Finding it difficult to say it out loud, she simply creates a straight line across her neck with her finger.

The Kids Next Door's jaws drop wide open. Their most dangerous and hated enemy... is...

"Whoa dude, you KILLED the Delightful Children's dad!?!" Two exclaims

"That's something we wouldn't do even if we wanted..." says Numbuh One.

"They are gonna be soooooo mad!" Numbuh Three says, covering her gaping mouth with her oversleeved hands.

Manasa nods. "Maybe. I was unfortunate to have to do in that man in their presence. But I destroyed him for the good of kids all over the world... and, moreso... for _their_ own good."

"What'd ya mean?" asks the dark girl.

"Well, you see, their so-called 'Father'--AHHH!"

A series of minor lasers strike the psychic down, surprising the heck out of everyone. They look to the direction of the shooting and are even more surprised at what they see.

A very cheesed off-looking quintet of Children dressed in very proper attire stand in front of the entrance to their home, training what look like small ray guns directly on Manasa. When she tries to get back up, they fire again.

"You...!" they say in their monotone, though there's a hint of fury in there somewhere. "We would like an explanation for your deed, you double-crossing..."

"Hey you creeps," shouts Numbuh Four, "stop it, Manasa's--!"

"Silence! Kids Next Door, you are trespassing on our property!"

"Like you don't trespass on ours?" Numbuh Five retorts. The Delightful Children answer her by shooting in front of her feet. Five promptly backs away.

"We said, SILENCE! We demand you leave, or you will be destroyed along with the woman! We are only letting you go this time because apparently you weakened her for us. Go before we change our minds!"

"Do as they say, Kids Next Door," Manasa says, feebly standing up.

"But..." Numbuh One begins.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Go now, for they WILL change their minds if you don't; you can trust me on that."

The Kids Next Door realize that she is getting some of her mind powers back. They nod and, by Numbuh One's command, they retreat, albeit reluctantly.

Five less distractions gone, the Delightful Children aim their arsenal at the woman, taking dangerous steps towards her.

"Well?" they demand. "Are you going to explain to us why you destroyed Father!?"

"I did it for your own benefit, and deep down inside you know it."

"Why do you keep saying that your destroying Father was for OUR benefit!?"

Manasa smiles a bit and takes a risky step towards them. The Delightful Children prepare themselves to shoot at any moment. But Manasa retains her calm and instead just looks down at them sadly and sympathetically.

"Children," says Manasa. "Let me tell you something about your so-called 'Father'...."

* * * * *

Later that evening...

The Kids Next Door are having a victory dinner: Pizza and ice cream. Okay, so pizza and ice cream aren't too good to eat at the same time. But this is a rebellious group of kids, after all.

"A-Ahem, may I have your attention please!" the commander orders, tipping his glass of milk to quiet his comrades. He stands and crosses his arms behind his back.

"Congratulations on yet another victory, team! We were up against a very powerful 'opponent,' but we still made it out. A job well down, my friends!"

"Awww, c'mon Numbuh One, you know it was because of YOU we won in the first place," says Numbuh Five.

"Yeah, if ya haven't come up with that plan of yers we woulda never had beaten that psycho!" Numbuh Four adds.

"Maybe, but my plan would not have carried out so well if it wasn't for your teamwork. To be honest, I was afraid you wouldn't do the things I told you, for obvious reasons."

"Yeah, well..." Two waves One's concerns away, "we did what we had to. I'll admit those orders were... weird, but hey, it worked."

"Soma them were kinda funny, too," laughs Numbuh Five. She faces the Aussie boy and holds back more laughter. " 'Ooohhh, lookit the pretty moooonnnn!' " she mocks playfully.

All four Kids around Numbuh Four snicker, much to his dismay. But Four smirks and points to the dark girl beside him. "At least I didn't have to dance 'n' sing to the _Blarney the Orange Dinosaur_ opening theme song!"

"Touché," smirks Numbuh Two, whose face is then instantly covered with part of Numbuh Five's ice cream.

"Well, I thought Numbuh Four looked soooo cute when he sang 'I'm a Little Teapot'!" squeals the Asian operative.

The Aussie simply turns away quickly, crossing his arms, huffing. "Yeah, whateva..." And he goes on a rant under his breath about stupid this and stupid that.

"Hey, what 'bout that Manasa lady?" asks Numbuh Five, shifting the atmosphere back to seriousness.

"I don't think I wanna know what the Delightful Children did to her," says Numbuh Two in a low voice.

"Don't worry, team, somehow I feel that Manasa is okay," Numbuh One tells them. "I'm no mind-reader, but I do have this feeling that everything will turn out fine, even for the Delightful Children From Down The Lane. Plus, we no longer need to fear their 'Father,' though the way he disappeared from our lives wasn't quite what I expected."

"I still don't understand why he would wanna kill _kids_ to get what he wanted," Numbuh Three mumbles solemnly.

"Eh, you know mad scientists, they're usually not right in the head. So don't worry 'bout him," the shorter fighter assures her.

"Well, let's not let ourselves feel down now," says the leader. "This is a time of celebration. Dig in, team!"

Now that is one order the Kids are willing to obey. In the middle of their scarfing, Numbuh Five suddenly remembers something and smirks.

"Hey Numbuh Four, we're suppos'ta have our rematch, weren't we?"

"Oooyeamph, we werethempth." Numbuh Four swallows and speaks more clearly, "Oh yeah, we were!"

"Ya up to it?"

"You betcha!"

With that the two competitors immediately devour their food, not bothering to excuse themselves for the burps that follow.

"Hey Numbuh Two, wanna be our ref?" asks Four.

"Sure!" he answers. A wrestling match between Numbuh Four and Numbuh Five sounds much more exciting than even pizza and ice cream, so Two sets his food aside till later and follows Four and Five to Four's room where the wrestling mat is.

Numbuh Three, too, sets her food aside and smiles at her leader. "C'mon, Numbuh One, let's be the commentators! You can sit b'side me, long as you don't try to play Doctor or something."

Numbuh Three winks to show she was just kidding and skips toward Numbuh Four's quarters. Numbuh One looks after her and smiles. "Those guys..." he sighs, but in a good way. At last, a state of normalcy is returning for the Kids Next Door.

* * * * *

The next morning, at dawn, the Delightful Children From Down The Lane walk out of their large household and face where their Father's room would be. They never bothered to bury his body; they left it right where it was when they last saw it.

Their blank, blue eyes stare at their home. They sigh simultaneously, shaking their heads.

"Father... Are you really gone? Yes, yes you are gone. We saw your moment of death before our very eyes. We should be moaning, we should be grieving, we should be all-around depressed. However, Manasa informed us of what you really were:

"A no-good, lying, monsterous BASTARD!!"

Their bodies tremble, their fists clench, and their teeth grind as they finally let out their frustrations, their pain, their suffering, their fury against the destroyed being of flame. Their eyes glare dangerously at where their Father's room is, pointing towards it in utmost rage.

"Manasa told us everything about you, and we are glad that she did. So we were a disappointment to you, were we!? So we did not deserve to be your Children, did we!? So you were planning to KILL us for our constant failures, were you!? Well, don't worry 'Father,' you won't have to worry about US anymore!

"You treated us like your slaves; you never gave us a care in the world! You never did love us, did you!? You used us just to carry out your plan to viciously murder innocent children all over the world!! And you know what? We REJOICE at your destruction, for all the reasons we gave you! May the earthworms feast on you!"

The Delightful Child with blonde hair similar to Numbuh Four's whips out a remote control of some sort from his suit pocket, and points it towards the mansion.

"May this be the moment where you completely disappear from our lives, now... AND FOREVER!!"

With that declaration, the boy presses the button and then the Delightful Childrens' Father's room, along with all his possessions and his body, explode into a mighty cylinder of flames. The Delightful Children made the explosives so that the rest of the mansion would be affected only a little, if at all. That way, the room would receive the tremendous damage. Even a body like their Father's would not be able to survive it.

They watch the spectacle before them, fire in their own eyes. But the flames in their eyes die down as realization hits them. And then they... _smile_. Not their evil or "business" smile, but a _joyful_ smile.

"We're... free. We're free! We're free, free, FREE AT LAST!"

The Children break away from each other and dance around happily, like the chains of slavery was broken and their 'owner' lets them go at last. The sprinklers come on, but they don't care. Instead the boys simply take off their suit jackets, and let the sprinkles refresh them.

The Delightful Children play around the sprinklers, tagging or playfully tackling each other... just like real children would. For the first time in their lives... they are happy.

In a distance not too far away, a young woman watches them all, a satisfied smile on her face.

"Now they know..." Manasa whispers. "You are liberated at last, Delightful Children. And not just you, but children everywhere. They have no need to fear your 'Father' anymore. Yes, Children, you are certainly free at last. Now... I must go."

Manasa turns and walks away, weight lifted off of her shoulders like a curse leaving a body. She satisfied her revenge, saved kids everywhere, and made five of them especially happy. All in one night. Boy, does it feel great.

She faces the Kids Next Door's Treehouse in the distance, then the rejoicing Delightful Children, then back again.

"Kids Next Door, Delightful Children, we might meet again someday," she says to herself. "But even with my powers, I cannot foresee the future. We may see each other again, we may not. We'll just have to wait and see. Until then, I will continue my life and enjoy it, with no hidden hatred and seeking of revenge in my heart. I'll think I'll start with... the person I love dearly."

So Manasa walks down the street to do just that. She can at last free her mind from pain and suffering and have the courage to face the world once again. And, as said before, she'll begin her new life with the person whom she loves...

...that being her boyfriend, the sole survivor of the massacre long ago.

* * * * *

END TRANSMISSION


End file.
